Who's Hot / Who's Not

WHO'S Hot

Japanesegolfers

Yusaku Miyazato(below) came up aces on Day Two of the Reno-Tahoe Open; he's the second playerin PGA Tour history with two holes in one in the same round. Miyazato, whoseEnglish is shaky, tied for 21st, thanks perhaps to his celebration plans:"Drink much beer. Big party." Little sister Ai Miyazato also did thefamily proud--finishing fourth at the LPGA's Wendy's Championship forChildren.

John Smoltz

Dog days? Whatdog days? The Braves' ageless ace, 39, dominated the Nats last Saturday--heretired the first 13 batters--and is 8--1 since July 1. Said manager Bobby Cox,"He's as good as I've ever seen him."

Willy Taveras

Astros leadoffman ran his hitting streak to a franchise-record 30 games, second longest inthe majors this year. But Houston's hit king is no drama king: Only three timesdid Taveras, batting .349 during the streak, wait until his last at bat to gethis hit.

Bernardini

Overshadowed bythe injured Barbaro in the Preakness, the 3-year-old (left) proved that victorywas no fluke with a 7 1/2-length win in the Travers Stakes, his fifth straightwin. Next stop: the Breeders' Cup, in November--and perhaps the Horse of theYear Award.

WHO'S Not

Japaneseballers

The host nationwent 1--4 and failed to make it out of group play at the basketball worldchampionships, and the end wasn't pretty. Japan lost by 49 to Spain in itsfinal game, less than 24 hours after it blew an 18-point halftime lead againstNew Zealand. Said guard Ryota Sakurai, "There's all the fans and kids thatpaid money to see our games. We thought that we had to do our best for [them].And we tried to do that, but...."

AlexRodriguez

Dog days. Whatdog days. The Yankees' third baseman's swoon continues: A-Rod (left) went 1 for15 with 10 K's in a series against the Angels. Said manager Joe Torre, "Weneed him to produce."

WillieMcGinest

Former NewEngland linebacker, now with Cleveland, pitched a fit because Junior Seau willwear his old number 55 for the Pats. Strange, because McGinest (right) beganwearing it at USC in honor of ... Seau, who was the Trojans' number 55 beforehim.

Bluegrass Cat

The KentuckyDerby and Belmont runner-up placed again at the Travers, which turned out to behis last race. The colt joined Barbaro in retirement, owing to a fracture inhis right hind leg. Said trainer Todd Pletcher as the Cat prepped for life as astallion, "Considering what we know now, he ran a great race in theTravers."

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STAN BADZ/PGA TOUR/WIREIMAGE.COM (MIYAZATO)

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JAE C. HONG/AP (RODRIGUEZ)

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DAVID BERGMAN (MCGINEST)

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JON WINSLOW/AP (BERNARDINI)