Jose Iglesias’s error proves costly in Tigers’ loss

"It was by no means a routine play, but it was the kind you could essentially pencil Jose Iglesias in for.

There was one out in the seventh inning, and the Tigers were clinging to a 2-1 lead in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series on Saturday night. Jonny Gomes had already reached on a double. Xander Bogaerts had worked his second walk of the night, and Jacoby Ellsbury was at the plate.

When Ellsbury sent a ball skipping up the middle, Iglesias’s mind was already on turning the double play that would have gotten them out of the inning.

“He hit it pretty good,” Iglesias said. “So I thought I had the double play.”

From the dugout, Tigers manager Jim Leyland was picturing the same thing.

“I think we could have,” Leyland said. “It was hit pretty hard, but that’s part of the game. I have no problem with that. Probably could have turned that, even though Ellsbury runs good. I think we doubled him once this series.”

Bill Belichick disagrees with flag

"EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick said he didn't believe his team committed a penalty on a pivotal missed field goal attempt in Sunday's 30-27 overtime lossto the New York Jets.

Nick Folk's missed 56-yard field goal try was nullified due to an unsportsmanlike penalty call on defensive tackle Chris Jones for pushing a teammate in an attempt to block the kick.

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Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe/Getty ImagesBill Belichick argues with officials following a critical overtime penalty on the Patriots.

The officials ruled that Jones was a second-level defender that pushed teammate Will Svitek from behind, a violation of Rule 9, Section 1, Article 3 that states: "Team B players cannot push teammates on the line of scrimmage into the offensive formation."

Though Jones did appear to push Svitek, he was originally lined up on the line of scrimmage. The violation is said to occur only when the pushing player starts at the second level of the defense, which is what Belichick took exception to.

"You can't push on the second level," he said. "I didn't think we did that."

New York, given new life, ran the ball three times to set up Folk's game-winning 42-yard field goal.

Referee Jerome Boger explained his decision after the game.

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"The call was that No. 94 [Jones] on the defense pushed his teammate into the formation," he said. "That is a rule change for 2013 that a teammate cannot push a teammate into the opponents' formation."

Patriots fall to Jets after critical penalty

"EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — As rookie teammate Chris Jones found himself pressed into his locker by a throng of media members asking about the critical penalty called on him in overtime, Patriots captain Matthew Slater was at his own stall just a few feet away.

“It’s not on him,” Slater said of Jones. “There were 20, 30 plays throughout the game that could have gone differently. You guys are asking Chris a lot of questions, but it’s not his fault. We lost this game as a team.”

The Patriots fell to their AFC East rivals, the Jets, Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium, 30-27, in OT. It was the second loss of the season for New England, and snapped a five-game win streak against New York.

The play in question, the one that led to Jones getting so many questions, came during Jets kicker Nick Folk’s game-winning 56-yard field-goal attempt.

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Patriots fall to Jets, 30-27

• Summary: Jets 30, Patriots 27
• A look at the NFL rule that led to penalty

Lined up behind Will Svitek, Jones can be seen on replay pushing Svitek forward at the snap and into the Jets’ Damon Harrison. A flag immediately went up into the air, and even though Folk’s long attempt was wide left, the infraction meant he’d get a second chance."

Marvin Lewis

"Marvin Ronald Lewis (born September 23, 1958) is the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League, a position he has held since January 14, 2003, making him the 2nd longest tenured head coach in the NFL behind New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. Previously, he was notable as the defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens, whose record-setting defense helped them win Super Bowl XXXV 34-7 over the New York Giants."

Rajon Rondo: Why would I want out?

"Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo said that he is embracing the challenge of a rebuild and hopes to aid the team in that process.

Rondo, speaking to reporters Tuesday night at the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston after formally announcing he has joined the ANTA shoe brand, dispelled the notion that Boston's roster overhaul this past summer, which included trading away Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, might leave him yearning to join a contender rather than endure another rebuilding process.

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"I love it here. The fans are great here," Rondo said, according to Comcast SportsNet. "And [president of basketball operations] Danny [Ainge] has been straightforward with me. This is my team. Why would I want to leave? Why would I want out?"

Rob Gronkowski: Still 'day-to-day'

:FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Amid reports that the New England Patriots are optimistic that Rob Gronkowski will make his season debut Sunday against the New Orleans Saints, the tight end reinforced on Thursday that his status remains day-to-day.

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"It's basically nothing new," he told reporters. "I mean, I'm just working hard every week, working hard out at practice, and nothing's changed, we're day by day, like we've been from the very beginning."

Asked what he and doctors need to see in order to know he is ready to return to the field, Gronkowski replied, "[I'm] really just taking it each day at a time and just trying to improve each day at a time. And that's all."

On Wednesday, quarterback Tom Brady said that he's not riding the emotional roller coaster attached to speculating on Gronkowski's return date.

"We've kind of talked about it a lot the last five weeks," Brady said. "If he's there, he's there. If he's not, he's not. We're going to try to go win anyway," he said.

Brady's comments came on the heels of remarks by coach Bill Belichick, who reiterated that Gronkowski's status is day-to-day but did not elaborate."

Obama, GOP escalate the rhetoric on shutdown

WASHINGTON — President Obama and House speaker John A. Boehner amped up their rhetoric Tuesday as the standoff over the shutdown and a potential default on the nation’s debt reached a new level of discord and uncertainty.

Even a temporary route to break the logjam — the possibility of raising the nation’s borrowing authority for a few weeks to stave off economic calamity and allow time for substantial negotiations — did not win any agreement, despite offering an opportunity for both sides to save face.

Obama and Boehner had a brief phone conversation Tuesday morning, then followed that up with dueling press conferences that revealed how deeply the two sides remain divided.

“If reasonable Republicans want to talk about these things again, I’m ready to head up to the Hill and try,” Obama said during a press conference. “I’ll even spring for dinner again.”

But, he added, “I’m not going to do it until the more extreme parts of the Republican Party stop forcing John Boehner to issue threats about our economy. We can’t make extortion routine as part of our democracy.”

The economic warning came Tuesday as stocks fell sharply and consumer confidence, as measured by Gallup, has fallen by more than it has in any week since the Lehman Brothers collapse of 2008, the beginning of the global economic crisis.

The Obama administration has warned that the nation faces default on its credit beginning Oct. 17. Republicans have pounded Obama for days for refusing to negotiate terms for an end to the dispute. Obama, in a press conference lasting more than hour, went to extraordinary lengths to explain to ordinary Americans why he believes “paying ransom’’ in exchange for raising the debt ceiling is “nonnegotiable.’’