Orioles Welcome Oakland to Town for Weekend
The Baltimore Orioles will welcome the Oakland Athletics to Camden Yards for a weekend series. The birds are coming off of a road trip where they went 0-6 and have lost 13 of the past 15 games. The two teams have met only once this season, with the Orioles on the wrong end of an Athletics' sweep. On Friday, the birds will send Chris Waters (2-1, 5.45 ERA) to the mound to face Dallas Braden (4-3, 3.88 ERA) of the A's. On Saturday, Garrett Olson (8-7, 6.53 ERA) will get the call against Oakland's Greg Smith (6-14, 4.23 ERA). And on Sunday, the birds will give the ball to Daniel Cabrera (8-8, 5.24 ERA) to take on Josh Outman (0-0, 0.00 ERA) of the Athletics.

Former Oriole Todd Cruz Dies
Todd Cruz, an infielder with the 1983 world champion Baltimore Orioles, has died. He was 52. Cruz died Tuesday while swimming at the apartment complex in which he lived in Bullhead City, Arizona. The cause of death is pending results of the coroner's office. Cruz played with six major league teams from 1978 to 1984. He broke into the big leagues with the Philadelphia Phillies, then played with Kansas City, the California Angels and Chicago White Sox from 1979-80. He did not play in the majors in 1981, but the following season participated in 136 games with Seattle. He was traded by the Mariners to the Orioles in the middle of the 1983 season and batted .208 as Baltimore's third baseman. In the World Series against Philadelphia, won in five games by the Orioles, Cruz went 2-for-16 and scored a run. He served as a utility infielder with the Orioles in 1984, his final major league season. He also pitched in a game, throwing a scoreless inning against New York in a 10-2 loss on September 18th.

Cubs Zambrano Has Inflammation
Chicago Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano underwent an MRI yesterday, which confirmed that he has right rotator cuff tendinitis and inflammation in his shoulder. Zambrano was given a shot of anti-inflammatory medication and will make an attempt to return to the team's rotation in a week. The team expects the pitcher to begin throwing again when the team is in St. Louis on September 10th. If all goes well, Zambrano will start at Houston in the following series. Zambrano is 13-5 with a 3.58 ERA in 27 starts for the Cubs this season.

Weaver Has Start Pushed Back
Los Angeles Angels starter Jered Weaver will have his next start pushed back due to a hand injury. The pitcher had a bit of bad luck as he cut the tips of his middle and ring fingers on his pitching hand while pushing himself up from the dugout bench. Dustin Moseley will take his place in the rotation.

Giants and Burress Agree to New Deal
The New York Giants and wide receiver Plaxico Burress have agreed to a new contract just hours before the team's season opening game against the Redskins. Burress signed a five-year, $35 million contract which is worth $11 million in the first year. Burress had a huge season last year, catching 70 passes for 1,025 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also had a huge first game this season, catching 10 passes for 133 yards.

Jaguars Collier Making Improvements
Jacksonville Jaguars offensive tackle Richard Collier's agent says the player is making gradual improvements from his gunshot wounds. He cautions that Collier is not out of the woods yet. Coller remains in critical but stable condition and is still in the intensive care unit at Shands Jacksonville Medical Center. The player was shot several times while sitting in his car with former teammate Kenneth Pettway as they waited outside an apartment for two women early Tuesday morning.

Daunte Culpepper Retires from NFL
NFL quarterback Daunte Culpepper has announced that he is retiring from the NFL at age 31. Culpepper was unable to starting job or backup job this offseason. He did have one-year offers from the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers but didn't find those offers suitable. Culpepper, a three-time Pro Bowler, passed for 22,422 yards and 142 touchdowns throughout his career. Perhaps his best season was as a Minnesota Viking in 2004 when he passed for 4,717 yards and 39 touchdowns.

Ravens Sign Former Bengal Anderson
The Baltimore Ravens have agreed to a contract with former Cincinnati Bengals' offensive tackle Willie Anderson. The two sides agreed to a three-year, $10.5 million deal. The former Pro Bowl tackle is expected to compete for the starting job. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and San Diego Chargers were also interested in his services.

Bills Crowell Out for Season
Buffalo Bills starting linebacker Angelo Crowell will miss the entire season as he's been placed on injured reserve after having surgery on his left knee. Backup Keith Ellison will start in Crowell's place on the strong side.

Ocho Cinco Name Change Official
That will be Chad Ocho Cinco lining up at wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday in Baltimore. The NFL says it will recognize Chad Johnson's legal name change and his new name will be on the back of his Bengals jersey for the season opener against the Ravens. The receiver had his name changed in his home state of Florida last week.

Ohio State's Wells Out for Saturday
Don't look for Chris "Beanie" Wells on the field Saturday when third-ranked Ohio State hosts Ohio. Coach Jim Tressel says his star running back will sit out the Buckeyes' outing against the Bobcats after injuring his right foot in last week's season-opening romp over Youngstown State. Wells has not practiced with the team this week and has spent much of the time wearing a protective boot. Tressel says it's too early to speculate on whether Wells would be available for Ohio State's September 13th road showdown with Number-1 Southern California.

Penn State Suspends Three Players
Penn State coach Joe Paterno kicked one player off the team and said three players will not face Oregon State this weekend because of undisclosed off-field issues. Defensive back Willie Harriott has been kicked off the team while defensive lineman Maurice Evans and Abe Koroma and tight end Andrew Quarless will sit out when Oregon State visits 19th-ranked Oregon State on Saturday.

Vanderbilt Upsets South Carolina
Chris Nickson threw for a touchdown and ran for another and Vanderbilt finally beat a ranked opponent on its own field by upsetting 24th-ranked South Carolina 24-17 in the SEC opener for both teams. Vanderbilt is 2-and-0. The Commodores hadn't upset a ranked team in Vanderbilt Stadium since 1992, when they beat then-Number-25 Mississippi 31-9. This win was very sweet for Vanderbilt, which lost its first 14 games against Steve Spurrier as he coached Duke, Florida and South Carolina. Now the Commodores have won two straight against the old ball coach. South Carolina fell to 1-and-1.