Giants’ Lincecum reels in N.L.’s Cy Young Award

Tim Lincecum was a big winner on a woeful team and he was rewarded with the National League Cy Young Award on Tuesday.

Lincecum, who pitched for the Washington Huskies and Liberty High of Renton, Wash., joined Mike McCormick (1967) as the only San Francisco Giant to win the award, taking home pitching’s highest honor by a comfortable margin following his second major league season.

The slender kid with the whirling windup received 23 of 32 first-place votes and 137 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Brandon Webb of the Arizona Diamondbacks got four first-place votes and finished second with 73 points.

Lincecum, who is 5-foot-11 and 160 pounds, was 18-5 with a 2.62 ERA and a major league-best 265 strikeouts for a club that finished 72-90.

•Ex-Indian Score dies: Herb Score, the Cleveland Indians pitcher and former broadcaster whose promise on the mound was shattered by a line drive, died at his home in Rocky River, Ohio, the team said. He was 75.

Score had been in a wheelchair since suffering a stroke in 2002, four years after he was seriously injured in a car accident.

The lefty was named the A.L. Rookie of the Year in 1955 after going 16-10. He went 20-9 in 1956 and was twice named to the All-Star team.

However, Score’s career took a tragic turn on May 7, 1957, when Gil McDougald of the New York Yankees lined a ball off Score’s right eye, breaking his nose and a number of bones in his face. Fearful of being hit again, Score changed his pitching motion, with less than favorable results. After two losing seasons in Cleveland he pitched parts of three seasons with the Chicago White Sox. He never won more than nine games after the injury and retired in 1962 with a 55-46 record.

•Nationals, Marlins swap players: Starting pitcher Scott Olsen and outfielder Josh Willingham were traded by the Florida Marlins to Washington in a five-player deal.

The Marlins received second baseman Emilio Bonifacio and two minor leaguers: second baseman Jake Smolinski and right-hander P.J. Dean.

•Padres, Hoffman to part ways: Trevor Hoffman’s record-setting run as San Diego Padres closer is almost certainly over after the team withdrew its contract offer for 2009.

•Deal close to complete: Matt Holliday’s trade to the Oakland Athletics was nearly completed and an announcement is expected today.

The Colorado Rockies were set to send Holliday to the A’s for reliever Huston Street, left-hander Greg Smith and outfielder Carlos Gonzalez.

Football

Steelers get Parker back

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Willie Parker will return to practice today and coach Mike Tomlin is optimistic Parker will play Sunday against the San Diego Chargers.

Parker has played only once since spraining his knee Sept. 21.

•Law practices with Jets: Ty Law is back in a New York Jets uniform, practicing with the team after passing a physical and signing a one-year deal. Jets coach Eric Mangini says “there’s definitely a chance” Law could play Thursday against the New England Patriots.

•Weis remains confident: Amid growing fan discontent, Charlie Weis insisted Notre Dame is on the right path and he is the coach to lead the Fighting Irish out of their latest rut.

“I’m confident that the program is going to go where we all want it to go. That’s as honest as I can be,” Weis said.

Notre Dame fans, though, aren’t looking for pretty good. They’re looking for national championships, something they haven’t celebrated since 1988. The Irish (5-4) have lost three of their last four games.

NBA

James powers Cavaliers

LeBron James matched a season high with 41 points, finally putting Milwaukee away with a steal and soaring dunk in the final minutes, and Mo Williams scored 16 against his former team as the Cleveland Cavaliers won their fifth straight, 99-93 over the visiting Bucks.

•Lakers remain unbeaten: Kobe Bryant scored 27 points and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Dallas Mavericks 106-99 in Dallas. The Lakers improved to 6-0 for the first time since 2001-02, their last champion- ship season. Dallas’ Jason Kidd got his 101st career triple-double with 16 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

•Hawks stay hot: Al Horford scored a career-high 27 points and grabbed 17 rebounds as the Atlanta Hawks remained unbeaten through six games with a 113-108 victory over the host Chicago Bulls. Atlanta’s start is its best since the 1997-98 Hawks won their first 11 games.

•Stuckey to return: Detroit Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey will rejoin the team today after missing the first game of a West Coast road trip to undergo tests for being dizzy.

NHL

Penguins nip Wings

Jordan Staal had a hat trick in the third period and set up Ruslan Fedotenko’s winning goal with 1:11 left in overtime, lifting the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 7-6 comeback win over the host Detroit Red Wings.

•Canadiens blank Senators: Chris Higgins scored three goals and Carey Price got his first shutout of the season to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 4-0 win over the Ottawa Senators in Montreal. Price stopped 28 shots.

Miscellany

Duke romps into semis

Kyle Singler scored 19 points for a second straight game as No. 8 Duke (2-0) rolled into the 2K Sports Classic semifinals by routing Georgia Southern 97-54 in Durham, N.C. Duke has won 61 straight non- conference basketball games at home.

•Big day for Leparoux: Jockey Julien Leparoux, 25, of France, tied Hall of Famer Pat Day’s track record with seven wins at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

•Swim records fall: American swimmer Peter Marshall and South African Cameron van der Burgh set world records at a World Cup short course meet in Stockholm, Sweden. Marshall won the 100-meter backstroke in 49.94 seconds, breaking Ryan Lochte’s record of 49.99 set in 2006. Van der Burgh broke his 50-meter breaststroke record by winning in 25.94.