In a National League West that includes the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants and the free-spending Los Angeles Dodgers, others tend to be overlooked.
The San Diego Padres are no exception, and after news broke that third baseman Chase Headley is expected to miss the first month of the regular season with a fracture in his left thumb, few people are penciling in the Padres as playoff contenders.

Arizona State coach Herb Sendek barely had time to digest his team’s victory Wednesday in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament before he was hit with a question about the Sun Devils’ second-round opponent, Baylor.
Not long before third-seeded ASU defeated No. 6 Detroit 83-68 on Wednesday at Wells Fargo Arena, No. 2 Baylor had finished laying a 112-66 walloping on No. 7 Long Beach State, setting up a matchup between the Sun Devils and Bears at 5 Friday night in Waco, Texas. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

If there was any lingering disappointment over Arizona State being relegated to the National Invitation Tournament, it didn’t show on the court Wednesday.
Third-seeded ASU cruised past No. 6 Detroit in the first round of the NIT, winning 83-68 in front of 3,519 at Wells Fargo Arena.

Six days removed from a loss that ended Arizona State’s hopes of going to the NCAA Tournament, the Sun Devils prepare for their next game.
Six days to recover from the sting of that 80-75 defeat to UCLA in the second round of the Pac-12 Tournament, and ASU hopes it is ready to begin play in the National Invitation Tournament.

By all accounts, the third playing of the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup this past weekend was a success.
The March weather at Phoenix’s Wildfire Golf Club was gorgeous, fans were treated to a captivating final-round duel between Stacy Lewis and Ai Miyazato, and the tournament once again showed its charitable side, donating half of its $1.5 million purse to the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf Foundation.

After establishing himself as a reliable starter through the first five seasons of his career, all with the Houston Rockets, Luis Scola has often found himself in an unfamiliar place this year with the Suns: on the bench.
Scola is averaging the least playing time (26 minutes, 11 seconds entering Monday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers) since his rookie season in 2007-08 with Houston, when he seized the starting power-forward job midway through the year and never again came off the bench for the Rockets.

Ai Miyazato sat in the interview room, taking questions after her final-round 71 that left her 3 shots behind Stacy Lewis, the winner of the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup.
The 27-year-old native of Okinawa, Japan, was characteristically chipper, even after defeat, but she seemed to sense she had let one get away.

Lizette Salas wasn’t feeling exceptionally confident in her game Friday, so she turned to one of her mentors for some friendly advice.
It helped that that mentor was World Golf Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez.

Whenever Stacy Lewis returns to her birthplace of Toledo, Ohio, for an LPGA Tour event, she is greeted by throngs of friends and family members decked out in T-shirts identifying them as Lewis’ official fan club.
They are the “Lew Crew,” Lewis’ home-course advantage when she plays the Jamie Farr Toledo Classic, and this weekend a handful of them made it out to Wildfire Golf Club to cheer on the 28-year-old in the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup.

John Kruk usually is worth tuning in to, whether he’s dispensing his thoughts on “Baseball Tonight” or just chatting about his golf game.
The colorful ESPN analyst did quite a bit of the latter Wednesday, joining fellow former big-leaguer Aaron Rowand and current Texas Rangers catcher A.J. Pierzynski for a casual conversation after the three had finished their rounds at the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup pro-am at Wildfire Golf Club in Phoenix.

PHOENIX — After Team USA’s victory over Italy Saturday, U.S. manager Joe Torre likened his team’s looming Sunday matchup with Canada to a postseason Game 7: Win or go home.
The Americans will not be going home. Instead they will travel to Marlins Park in Miami for the second round of the World Baseball Classic after defeating Canada 9-4 in front of 22,425 at Chase Field.

PHOENIX — Already in a difficult situation after losing Friday night to Mexico, Team USA knew Saturday’s game against Italy was one it had to have.
And thanks to David Wright, it got it.

PHOENIX — If this is how the United States planned to show the rest of the world that it was back on top of the global baseball scene, it might want to rethink its opening strategy.
Team USA’s bats were lifeless and its pitching was shoddy as the Americans began the World Baseball Classic with a 5-2 loss to Mexico on Friday in front of 44,256 at Chase Field.

At a news conference Thursday, R.A. Dickey discussed his much-publicized career path that saw him go from struggling journeyman to Cy Young Award winner, calling his story a “redemptive narrative.”
Team USA hopes to be able to apply those same words to its World Baseball Classic experience, as it looks to win its first WBC title in three tries after failing to reach the championship game in 2006 and 2009.

The United States takes a lot of criticism from World Baseball Classic fans for its players’ lack of interest in participating in the tournament, but it is not alone in that department.
The Dominican Republic could field an All-Star team from the list of players who declined to play this year, with Albert Pujols, Jose Bautista and David Ortiz chief among them. Other countries face the same predicament, whether it’s Yu Darvish saying no to Japan, Shin-Soo Choo passing on playing for Korea or Felix Hernandez turning down an invitation from Venezuela.

The United States takes a lot of criticism from World Baseball Classic fans for its players’ lack of interest in participating in the tournament, but it is not alone in that department.
The Dominican Republic could field an All-Star team from the list of players who declined to play this year, with Albert Pujols, Jose Bautista and David Ortiz chief among them. Other countries face the same predicament, whether it’s Yu Darvish saying no to Japan, Shin-Soo Choo passing on playing for Korea or Felix Hernandez turning down an invitation from Venezuela.

Team USA first baseman Mark Teixeira has been ruled out of the World Baseball Classic after suffering a strain in his right wrist Tuesday before USA’s exhibition game against the Chicago White Sox at Camelback Ranch.
Manager Joe Torre said Teixeira, who injured himself in a pregame batting practice drill, underwent an MRI and will be flying to New York to meet with doctors before traveling to Tampa to rejoin the Yankees in spring training.

Team USA arrived at Salt River Fields Monday for its first official World Baseball Classic workout, and it was clear in a pre-workout news conference that the Americans are ready and eager to represent their home country.
After failing to capture the WBC championship in 2006 and 2009 and watching Japan win each of the first two Classics, Team USA is determined to bring home the crown in 2013.

Spring training has arrived in the Valley, but for games that actually count in March, the third World Baseball Classic is right around the corner.
Team USA, Canada, Italy and Mexico will play games Thursday through Sunday at Chase Field and Salt River Fields as part of Pool D. Italy and Mexico start play at 1 p.m. Thursday at Salt River Fields, while the Americans play their first game at 7 p.m. Friday against Mexico at Chase Field.

The Arizona State softball team is no stranger to blowouts.
Ranked No. 3 in the country and playing a relatively soft non-conference schedule, the Sun Devils have seen their share of lopsided games this season, as their 127-18 scoring margin would indicate.

It was anything but a typical off-season this year for Chris Young.
The strange four-month stretch began on Oct. 20, when he was traded from the Diamondbacks to the Oakland Athletics for Cliff Pennington and prospect Yordy Cabrera, who was then flipped to the Miami Marlins for Heath Bell.

Mike Trout has few peers in baseball, and not just because of his otherworldly skills on the diamond. It’s the way he takes his newfound fame in stride.
The Los Angeles Angels outfielder, a 2009 first-round draft pick, burst onto the baseball scene last season, but he did it without the smug arrogance of many former stars (think Barry Bonds) or the cocky bravado of some of his fellow up-and-comers (think Bryce Harper).

It took a little while for the Arizona State offense to get going, but once it did it didn’t stop, and the No. 3 Sun Devils cruised to an 8-0 win in five innings over Minnesota on Sunday at Farrington Stadium.
ASU finishes the Littlewood Classic with a 5-0 record and is now 12-0 on the season, its best start since it won its first 15 games in 2007.

It can be difficult to sustain greatness in high school sports. With only four years to develop and improve their players, coaches must quickly figure out how to get the most out of their team, and contenders can fluctuate from year to year.
In boys tennis, however, Phoenix Brophy Prep is having itself a nice little run.

Last season was the year Phoenix Xavier Prep girls tennis finally got over the hump.
The name of that hump? Tucson Salpointe Catholic.