Scoreboard

'Canes produce in clutch

The Stanley Cup arrived in Raleigh, N.C., Wednesday as part of a National Hockey League promotional tour. The Carolina Hurricanes, with a sudden penchant for producing in the clutch, are doing their best to make sure it stays. Ahead 2-1 in the Eastern Conference finals against Toronto, Carolina has shown determination in making the franchise's deepest postseason run.

"When you go on this journey at the start of the playoffs, you've got to have different people step up at different times. And I think that's happened for us," Jeff O'Neill said Wednesday. O'Neill scored in overtime to give the Hurricanes a 2-1 victory Tuesday night.

Game 4 of the best-of-seven series was in Toronto last night and Game 5 will be at Carolina tomorrow.

Barry Bonds caught Mark McGwire again, this time tying him for fifth place on the career list with his 583rd home run in San Francisco's 12-5 victory at Arizona.

Bonds, who hit 73 homers last year to break McGwire's single-season record, lofted a two-run shot off Diamondbacks reliever Eddie Oropesa Wednesday for his 16th of the year. The San Francisco slugger needs three more to tie Frank Robinson for fourth place. "He's definitely at the top of his game," Giants outfielder Reggie Sanders said. "It's fun. You get a chance to witness what's going down in history."

No one expects soccer players to spend their free time reading Tolstoy. But the Italians have gone one step better during World Cup training, conditioning their thumbs with video games. According to defender Paolo Maldini, members of the squad have Playstations installed in their rooms in Sendai, northeastern Japan, where its training for the matches, which begin May 31.

Maldini, a veteran defender who at 33 years of age is almost considered elderly on the team, says he swears off the video games. "They're for another generation," he says. "I prefer more classic games like ping pong."