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From The Associated Press

Whisenhunt preparing for coaching debut
FLAGSTAFF—With the preseason opener two days away, the Arizona Cardinals' rookies may be starting to feel some butterflies.

Count new coach Ken Whisenhunt among them.

"I'm sure a lot of the young guys will be very excited because it will be their first chance to play," Whisenhunt said before Thursday afternoon's practice at Northern Arizona University.

It will be the first game as a head coach at any level for the 45-year-old Whisenhunt, who was hired last winter to replace Dennis Green. Whisenhunt's first adjustment will be working on the sidelines; as Pittsburgh's offensive coordinator the last three seasons, he watched games from the press box.

After 12 days in the tall pines of Flagstaff, the players and coaches are looking forward to facing a real opponent, even if it doesn't count. The Cardinals scrapped a walkthrough scheduled for Friday morning and planned to head to Phoenix after Thursday afternoon's practice. The team will fly to Oakland on Friday. Kickoff is 7 p.m. on Saturday.

The team returns to NAU Monday and breaks camp on Aug. 23.

"Pretty soon, Monday Night Football will be right around the corner," quarterback Matt Leinart said.

The Cardinals open the regular season at San Francisco on Monday, Sept. 10. They have a good bit of work to do before then, starting Saturday night in Oakland.

Former N. Colorado punter found guilty of assault
GREELEY, Colo.—A former college backup punter accused of stabbing a rival in a desperate bid to become the starter was found guilty of second-degree assault Thursday, but jurors acquitted him of attempted first-degree murder.

Mitch Cozad, who faces up to 16 years in prison, was led away in handcuffs and must remain in jail while awaiting sentencing on Oct. 2.

Cozad, of Wheatland, Wyo., was accused of stabbing Northern Colorado starting punter Rafael Mendoza last Sept. 11.

Cozad’s attorney, Joseph Gavaldon, said he would appeal.

Mendoza said he could not identify his attacker. Gavaldon argued it was another student who stabbed Mendoza.

Cozad shook his head as the verdict was read. His fiancee, Michelle Weydert, broke into uncontrollable sobbing as the cuffs clicked shut around his wrists.

Cozad’s mother, Suzanne Cozad, shouted at prosecutors, “You all know he passed the polygraph, you all know it.”

Gavaldon told reporters Cozad had taken a polygraph test and had passed, but he said polygraph results are inadmissible in Colorado courts.

Padres’ Wells cut from active roster
SAN DIEGO—David Wells is finished with his hometown San Diego Padres, and it’s possible that baseball has seen the last of the boisterous left-hander.

General manager Kevin Towers said the Padres will cut ties with the struggling 44-year-old on Thursday in order to activate All-Star Chris Young from the disabled list.

Towers and manager Bud Black met with Wells on Tuesday night after the Padres’ game in St. Louis, telling him that he wouldn’t be making his scheduled start Saturday in Cincinnati. The 235-game winner was 0-3 with a 14.33 ERA in his last four starts, and 5-8 with a 5.54 ERA overall this season.

Rick Ankiel back with Cardinals as outfielder
ST. LOUIS—Rick Ankiel returned to the major leagues Thursday—as an outfielder.

After flopping in his attempt to rejoin the St. Louis Cardinals as a pitcher, Ankiel rejoined the team before Thursday night’s game and was slated to start against San Diego’s Chris Young.

The 28-year-old Ankiel was hitting .267 with 32 homers and 89 RBIs in 102 games at Triple-A Memphis. He also struck out 90 times and had a .314 on-base percentage.

“I think when you watch him take batting practice and he hits it, it clicks that he’s got legitimate power,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said Wednesday. “He’s not doing anything that’s flash in the pan. “Can he make that kind of consistent contact here? We’ll see, but he definitely has that kind of power and a live stroke.”

Ankiel won 11 games and struck out 194 batters in 175 innings as a 20-year-old rookie in 2000 and was a surprise pick to start the Cardinals’ 2000 postseason opener against Atlanta. But he became the first major league pitcher to throw five wild pitches in one inning since Sept. 15, 1890, when Bert Cunningham did it for Buffalo of the Players League.

He threw nine wild pitches in four innings during the 2000 playoffs and never really was the same after that.

He returned to the majors in September 2004 and had a 5.40 ERA in 10 innings over five relief appearances with the Cardinals but after feeling a twinge in his elbow during winter ball in Puerto Rico, he announced on March 9, 2005, that he was switching to the outfield.

Clemens suspended for 5 games, Torre for 1
NEW YORK—Roger Clemens was suspended for five games Thursday and New York Yankees manager Joe Torre for one, the fallout from the Rocket hitting Toronto's Alex Rios with a pitch this week.

During a testy three-game series, the Blue Jays' Jesse Litsch threw behind Alex Rodriguez's legs in Monday's opener and Josh Towers hit A-Rod on his calf with a pitch in the third inning Tuesday.

The benches and bullpens emptied twice, but no punches were thrown. Clemens then hit Rios in the middle of his back in the seventh inning. Clemens and Torre immediately were ejected.

Clemens, Rodriguez and Torre were fined along with Yankees coaches Larry Bowa and Tony Pena, Toronto's Matt Stairs and Josh Towers, and Blue Jays coach Brian Butterfield.

Toronto's anger seemed to stem from the May 30 game, when Rodriguez yelled to distract third baseman Howie Clark during a late-inning popup.

Torre was suspended for one game in May after reliever Scott Proctor, then with the Yankees, threw an inside pitch to Seattle's Yuniesky Betancourt.