Perfect Game

All in all, perfect had a bad week. But then again, maybe when it comes to marriage and baseball, 40 years and 26 outs is sometimes what you have to accept in an imperfect world. Al and Tipper Gore, the publicly affectionate couple who spent years in the public eye without a whiff of marital scandal, announced last week that they were separating. The immediate reaction was: But they seemed to have the perfect marriage. Even their joint statement struck a perfect tone, of a perfect couple parting ways, but amicably — and the few close friends who were quoted, mostly anonymously, insisted that was exactly the case.

Right-hander Brad Markey pitched his his first no-hitter and fourth shutout of the season as the top-ranked C.Milton Wright baseball team beat Towson, 14-0, in the Class 3A North regional final at the Ripken Stadium complex. Markey (7-0) went five innings and struck out eight. An error in the first inning prevented the perfect game. Offensively, Markey went 2-for-3 and drove in two runs on a single and three on a triple.. C. Milton Wright (21-0) faces Atholton in Tuesday's state semifinal at Joe Cannon Stadium at 4 p.m. No. 5 Atholton 2, J.M. Bennett 1: Jonathan Thews hit a sacrfice fly to left field to score the winning run for the visiting Raiders (20-4)

It was a good idea Phil Rogers Chicago Tribune Good baseball is always about doing what's called for in the situation. Evan Longoria's bunt attempt in the middle of Dallas Braden's perfect game on Sunday was a good idea at the time, and well within anyone's understanding of baseball etiquette. Longoria was leading off the fifth inning, with Tampa Bay trailing 4-0. While he's a power hitter, the four-run deficit meant the Rays needed a big inning. He was only thinking about getting on base to spark that when he tried to bunt Braden's first pitch for a hit. He fouled it off and would go on to strike out. Afterward, Braden called the try "intelligent," and he was right.

Right-hander Emily Weiman got the No. 3 Archbishop Spalding softball team off to a perfect start. Weiman (1-0) pitched a perfect game, 15 strikeouts in five innings, as the visiting Cavaliers shut out Calvert County opponent Calverton, 20-0. Offensively, Weiman went 3-for-3 with a double and a home run.

Had New York Yankees third baseman Jerry Hairston Jr. been able to field Adam Jones' routine ground ball in the seventh inning Monday night, Andy Pettitte's dominating performance might well have been a historic one. It's impossible to know whether Pettitte would have been able to retire the final six batters to complete the first perfect game - for or against them - in Orioles history. But with the way Pettitte was pitching and whom he was pitching against in the Yankees' eventual 5-1 victory, it was easy to imagine the possibilities.

CHICAGO - -They lounged in the visiting clubhouse at U.S. Cellular Field, enjoying an early dinner, listening to loud music and watching highlights from other games on the television. It was a rare experience for these Orioles, and they seemed perfectly content soaking it all in rather than rushing to the team charter and heading to their next destination, another series loss in tow. Their 5-4 victory yesterday over the contending Chicago White Sox, on an afternoon when rookie Jason Berken outpitched Mr. Perfect Game Mark Buehrle, clinched the Orioles' first series victory since the All-Star break and breathed a little life into a season that had been going progressively downhill for quite some time.

CHICAGO -- Mark Buehrle raised his arms, grabbed his head and braced himself Thursday for a human pileup along the first base line. Buehrle flawlessly pitched the Chicago White Sox into a share of first place in the American League Central in impeccable style with the 18th perfect game in major league history. As soon as shortstop Alexei Ramirez threw to first baseman Josh Fields to retire Jason Bartlett for the final out, Buehrle completed the latest achievement in his storied career with a 5-0 victory over the defending AL champion Tampa Bay Rays before an announced 28,036 at U.S. Cellular Field.

Uproarious, moving and thrilling, Harvard Beats Yale 29-29, the account of an epochal football game played amid the turbulence of 1968, is an unexpected feat of documentary storytelling. Without grabbing you by the face mask, it rivets your attention within minutes, and maybe even before - the title alone, from a Harvard Crimson headline, sums up the tale's unique and paradoxical glory. The movie builds with an inexorable, pleasurable pull to the game's final two minutes. They become a cinematic as well as an athletic miracle.