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2B Daily News – Tuesday, May 14, 2013 Pence making early impact for Giants RB SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — At around age 10, Hunter Pence acquired a Barry Bonds poster from his elementary school fair. It was then that Pence started choking up on his bat just as Bonds did in that prized picture that wound up on his wall. Pence has become one of the San Francisco Giants' most reliable hitters with his unique, funky style — and no question emulating baseball's home run king has served him well for two decades since his days of youth baseball. ''I just grab it where it feels good,'' Pence said. ''I've always choked up, since about 10 or 11ish years old. I don't remember exactly but I had a Barry Bonds poster that I bought and he was choked up, and I kind of copied him. He was one of my favorite players.'' Not only does Pence have a teamleading seven home runs while batting .291 with nine doubles and a triple, he is the only one on the reigning World Series champions to start all 38 games this season and play every inning. Manager Bruce Bochy regularly checks with his right fielder to see if he might need a break. Nah, Pence just wants to play. ''That's what I'm supposed to do,'' he said before a 5-1 win against Atlanta on Sunday. ''I get paid to play. I love to play. It's an honor. I've been fortunate not to have injuries. I'm grateful to be able to play.'' The Giants are thrilled to have him for a full season this year, too. Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez has watched Pence burn both his Braves and former Marlins teams over the years, with Pence playing for Houston, then Philadelphia, and now the Giants. ''He comes up with the darndest hits. He just beats you every time, him and (David) Eckstein,'' Gonzalez said. ''He's not going to strike out, and you know he's going to put the ball in play and something's going to happen. Everybody wants to see these beautiful swings and these beautiful, fluid motions, but that's not him, other than SHARKS (Continued from page 1B) We know what's at stake after what we did last year, and they know it as well.'' The Kings nearly ended up with a matchup even closer to home against the Anaheim Ducks, but their local rivals were eliminated Sunday night by Detroit, scuttling the Kings' hopes of traveling by bus to the first postseason Freeway Faceoff. They've still got a familiar local foe — and for the first time in 21 years, Los Angeles gets to start a postseason series at home. The Kings have won five straight playoff series as the lower-seeded team over the past two seasons, setting an NHL record. Instead, they hope to continue their dominant run at Staples Center, where they've won 10 straight since March — including a 3-2 win in the regular season finale on April 27, securing the fifth seed by finishing two points ahead of San Jose. ''We're getting into that groove,'' Los Angeles center Anze Kopitar said. ''We had a slow start, but the last few games are a good indication of what we can do. We're familiar with them from so many years. We know what they bring and what they can do, and they know what we want to do, so I think it should be a fun series to see who can do it better.'' Los Angeles is amply wary of the Sharks, who are just one series away from their third Western Conference finals appearance in four years. Both teams won four straight to close out their first-round series, although San Jose swept Vancouver while Los Angeles dropped its first two games before rolling through hard-nosed St. Louis. ''I don't know if it will be GOLF USA NIR AUS ENG USA ENG SAF NIR USA USA ENG USA ESP USA ENG USA SAF USA USA USA 13.66 10.42 7.64 6.57 6.31 6.28 5.76 5.35 5.32 5.23 5.22 5.13 4.90 4.77 4.71 4.68 4.68 4.63 4.40 4.31 Bochy said. ''You really didn't see it, and it surprised me. You can choke up and be a good hitter.'' In terms of players choking up, Bochy believes it works. ''Yeah, sure it does,'' he said. ''You don't see many hitters choke up. That was a big thing in Little League and high school, 'choke up, choke up.' I took a video of my son (Giants minor league pitcher, Brett) — I should have sent it in for one of the funniest videos — he kept missing the ball, so I said, 'Brett, choke up,' and he went (cough, cough). I went, 'Ah, OK.' He was only about 5, and that's all he thought about for choke up.'' Pence, who turned 30 last month, has provided an immediate glimpse of just how steady he can be after first showing it during his short time with San Francisco last season. He batted .219 with seven home runs and 45 RBIs in 59 games for the Giants while making a smooth transition to the expansive, tricky right field in pitcher friendly AT&T Park. He had 13 hits with four RBIs in the postseason, batting .286 (4 for 14) in a World Series sweep of Detroit. Pence received a $13.8 million, one-year contract in January, and he is backing it up with a fast start. After three impressive wins against the Braves over the weekend, the Giants are playing some of their best baseball — and Bochy believes the hitting is becoming contagious. Marco Scutaro, another midseason acquisition last season along with Pence, is riding a 12-game hitting streak with six straight multihit performances. Pence has helped set the tone. ''He's a great player and a great person and a great teammate,'' Scutaro said. ''I'm happy to see him doing good. It doesn't matter how it looks, it matters if you get the job done. He's a guy you want to have on your team. He's ready to play every day, he's not a selfish guy, he's a team player. He's in a good mood every day.'' as physical,'' Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said of the upcoming series. ''They have some guys that will be physical, but I don't think they have as many guys that will work as hard as guys that were on St. Louis. At the same time, I think this team has a lot more skill and a lot more high-profile players, so it will be just as tough to win this series, too.'' Doughty and Logan Couture are probably done texting each other for the month. The childhood buddies and longtime teammates usually don't talk about their teams' rivalry, but Couture admires the Kings' 16-4 roll through the last postseason — something the Sharks have never experienced in nine straight trips to the playoffs. ''The hottest team wins the Stanley Cup at playoff time, that's the way it is every single year,'' Couture said. ''They showed it. It was a prime example last year. They played unbelievable hockey. They really tore through every other team. It's a pretty incredible thing to do.'' San Jose and Los Angeles met in the playoffs for the first time two years ago, and the Sharks advanced in six hard-nosed games on the way to their second straight conference finals — but the Kings were still coached back then by Terry Murray, who was replaced in December 2011 by Darryl Sutter, the longtime Sharks coach. Patrick Marleau, Scott Hannan and Brad Stuart all played for Sutter in San Jose. ''They know all of us, and we know all of them, so there won't be many surprises,'' Los Angeles' Jarret Stoll said. ''They're having a great run. They're playing the right way, and they'll be fired up. Maybe they're buy- ing in a little more, blocking more shots, and that's why they're still playing.'' The Sharks' biggest asset might be goalie Antti Niemi. The Stanley Cup winner has elevated his formidable game this season, posting a league-best 24 victories with a career-low 2.16 goalsagainst average as a finalist for the Vezina Trophy. But this series features two Cup-winning goalies, and Jonathan Quick has a Conn Smythe Trophy to go with it. Quick was in his usually formidable postseason form against St. Louis, allowing just 10 goals on 177 shots with the same lowto-the-ice, athletic style that led the Kings to a title. No matter which team survives this matchup, players and coaches are confident local hockey will get another boost from the clubs' combined success. ''I think it's an incredible thing for the state of California,'' said Sharks coach Todd McLellan, whose sons participated in youth hockey programs in the South Bay. ''(The) extreme growth and passion that this community has, and I'm sure it's the same down South, that's a result of the three teams having some success — playing late, becoming young hockey players' heroes and contributing to the community,'' McLellan added. ''So if we can continue that trend — obviously we will, because one of these two teams is going to go on — I think it's a great thing for the state.'' TENNIS Today's games Golden State at San Antonio, 6:30 p.m. Series tied 2-2 New York at Indiana, 4 p.m. Indiana leads series 2-1 ATP Money Leaders World Golf Ranking 1. Tiger Woods 2. Rory McIlroy 3. Adam Scott 4. Justin Rose 5. Brandt Snedeker 6. Luke Donald 7. Louis Oosthuizen 8. Graeme McDowell 9. Steve Stricker 10. Phil Mickelson 11. Lee Westwood 12. Matt Kuchar 13. Sergio Garcia 14. Keegan Bradley 15. Ian Poulter 16. Webb Simpson 17. Charl Schwartzel 18. Bubba Watson 19. Dustin Johnson 20. Jason Dufner he beats you every time.'' Not that Pence is keeping track of his numbers against Gonzalez — whose compliment he said he greatly appreciated — or anybody else. It is just mid-May, after all. ''I assess today. That's all that matters,'' Pence said. ''Our goal is to get into the playoffs. It's a long way away and we have to stick to the process. Every day's a new day. I just try to go out there and compete.'' Pence is hitting .327 with five doubles, three homers and eight RBIs over his last 12 games going into the opener of a quick two-game series at Toronto starting Tuesday. After coming to the Giants in a trade from the Phillies at last summer's deadline, and making a big impact down the stretch and in the postseason, everybody in the Bay Area has been eager to see Pence for an entire year. He is often quirky and awkward on the field, yet always thoughtful and polite off it. Pence quietly sits at his locker alone before games along a far wall in the clubhouse, this past week reading ''Sadaharu Oh: A Zen Way of Baseball,'' on the Japanese Hall of Famer. ''There's some good stuff,'' Pence said. He rides a motorized scooter to work, something he knows fascinates fans but he just considers his mode of transportation to and from work. Pence would rather stick to baseball talk, though he doesn't do much talking. ''He's really swinging well. He hasn't missed a game, he hasn't missed an inning,'' Bochy said. ''You just have to love the way he plays the game.'' Pence had lunch with Bonds a couple of years back, and figures why not keep copying the former Giants slugger in the way he holds the bat. They have been in touch from time to time. ''I do appreciate the story. I've said this, so many times earlier when Bonds was playing, I was surprised more hitters didn't choke up like Barry or try to emulate Barry with all the success that he had and the power that he had,'' 1. Novak Djokovic 2. Rafael Nadal 3. Andy Murray 4. David Ferrer 5. Juan Martin del Potro 6. Tomas Berdych 7. Stanislas Wawrinka 8. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 9. Roger Federer 10. Richard Gasquet $3,951,130 $3,087,929 $2,338,140 $1,413,272 $1,151,274 $1,124,595 $888,057 $833,510 $818,970 $799,847 WTA Money Leaders 1. Victoria Azarenka $3,034,084 2. Maria Sharapova $2,488,371 3. Serena Williams $2,325,481 4. Li Na $1,536,597 5. Sara Errani $1,230,222 6. Caroline Wozniacki $882,826 7. Agnieszka Radwanska $803,322 8. Roberta Vinci $794,296 9. Petra Kvitova $774,608 10. Sloane Stephens $640,812 NBA PLAYOFFS Conference Semifinals Monday's results Miami 88, Chicago 65 Miami leads series 3-1 Oklahoma City at Memphis, late Memphis leads series 2-1 NHL PLAYOFFS First Round Monday's results Boston 5, Toronto 4, OT Boston wins series 4-3 N.Y. Rangers 5, Washington 0 N.Y. Rangers win series 4-3 Conference Semifinals Today's games San Jose at Los Angeles, 7 p.m. Series tied 0-0 Ottawa at Pittsburgh, 4:30 p.m. Series tied 0-0 Wednesday's games Detroit at Chicago, 5 p.m. Series tied 0-0 LeBron headlines All-D team (AP) LeBron James and Memphis guard Tony Allen headline the NBA AllDefensive First Team. The league announced Monday that Allen received 53 points in the voting, while the Miami Heat star had 52. Each player had 25 firstteam votes from the NBA's 30 head coaches. ''We pride ourselves on defense here,'' said James. ''I'm one of the catalysts, as far as taking that side of the ball very seriously. We all do. I'm happy to be rewarded with such an honor to be part of First Team AllDefense. ''Any time you're awarded anything individually, it's an honor.'' The pair were joined on the first team by Clippers guard Chris Paul (37 points), Thunder forward Serge Ibaka (46), Knicks center Tyson Chandler (24) and Bulls center Joakim Noah (24). (Continued from page points, followed by Foothill with 97 and Shasta with 75. Red Bluff finished the meet with 64 points. The Spartans swept both relay events. Dylan Schaible, Michael Stone, Austin Torres and Stephen Hackstaff ran the 4x100 in 43.81 seconds. CARDS (Continued from page 1B) was second in the 100 meters (13.19). Kristin Cox placed third in the 100 meters (13.38). Morgan Parker won the discus (110'2") and was third in the shot put (33'). Beckley, Caitlin McCoy, Angelina Calderon and Annber Slye were second in the 4x100 with a time of 54.14 seconds. McCoy placed second in the long jump (15'4.5"), third in the 100-meter hurdles (16.97) and third in the 300-meter hurdles (49.04). Chrystal Short was third in the 800 meters (2:48.69). Boys Yreka scored 183 points, GAME 5 (Continued from page 1B) around on a gimpy left ankle, the upstart Warriors are beaming with confidence. Golden State's Game 2 win was its first in San Antonio since Feb. 14, 1997, ending a streak of 30 straight losses in the Alamo City, where the Spurs are tough for anybody to beat. Game 6 will be in Oakland on Thursday night. If necessary, a decisive Game 7 would be back in San Antonio on Sunday. That means the Warriors have to do twice in two weeks what took them 16 years to do: win in San Antonio, which doesn't seem nearly the advantage it did days ago. ''It's almost like we played better there, and they played better here,'' said Curry, who scored 22 points on 7-of-15 shooting, including 5 of 10 from 3-point range as a mostly stationary guard in Golden State's 9787 comeback win in overtime Sunday. ''I don't know what to read into that, but I think the way that the game flowed (Sunday), kind of a low-scoring versus highscoring early in the series, you just don't know what to expect.'' The Warriors wasted a 16-point lead in the final four minutes of regulation in Game 1, which the Spurs won in double overtime on Manu Ginobili's 3-pointer in the final seconds. After Golden State's nearly startto-finish win in Game 2, San Antonio followed with a MLB MLB National League GIANTS Arizona Colorado Padres Dodgers East Division W 23 21 20 16 15 L 15 17 17 21 21 Pct .605 .553 .541 .432 .417 GB — 2 2.5 6.5 7 West Division Texas A's Seattle Angels Houston East Division W 24 19 18 14 10 L 13 20 20 23 29 Pct .649 .487 .474 .378 .256 followed by Anderson with 98 and Central Valley with 92. Corning was fourth with 78 points and Lassen rounded out the competition with 24 points. Jesus Diera scored first place finishes in the 800 meters (2:04.69) and 1600 meters (4:46.25). Rogelio Silva finished as runner-up in the 1600 (4:41.08) and was also second in the 3200 meters (10:21.11). Ivan Alvarado was second in the long jump (19'8.5"), second in the 100 meters (11.51) and third in the 200 meters (23.12). Colton Connoly, Justin Haydon, Alan Rodriguez and Alvarado placed third in the 4x100 with a time of 46.47 seconds. similar performance in its Game 3 victory. Then the Spurs blew an eight-point lead with five minutes to play in regulation in Game 4 when it seemed like the Warriors would wilt. ''There's not really any momentum in the playoffs,'' said Warriors rookie Harrison Barnes, who scored a career-high 26 points to go with 10 rebounds in the game. ''Maybe it is youth. Maybe we just don't know any better.'' The Warriors will be on a stage far more familiar to the Spurs now. This is the 11th time San Antonio will play a Game 5 of a best-of-seven series tied under coach Gregg Popovich. The Spurs are 7-3 in those series but have lost the last two, including a year ago to Oklahoma City in the Western Conference finals. Golden State has outrebounded the Spurs in every game and outshot San Antonio in all but Game 3. But both teams are coming off a sloppy slugfest where both sides shot below 40 percent and nobody quite felt good about the way they played. The Spurs, in particular, have struggled to consistently make shots most of the series. San Antonio also made only 14 of 25 free throws and was 7 for 27 on 3-pointers in Game 4. ''We've never shot this poorly for this many games in a stretch,'' Popovich said. ''Hopefully it's an aberration to be that bad.'' Injuries remain a concern for both sides. NASCAR Sprint Cup Points Leaders American League West Division Sean Freeny, Greg Dufour, Stone and Hackstaff turned in the 4x400 in 3:26.48. Hackstaff had the Spartans sole individual victory on the day winning the 200 meters in 22.86 seconds. Torres took a pair of second place finishes. He tied for second in the high jump at 6' and was second in the triple jump at 41'0.25". Freeny placed third in the 400 meters (52.39). GB — 6 6.5 10 15 W L Pct GB Atlanta 21 16 .568 — Washington 20 17 .541 1 Philadelphia 18 21 .462 4 New York 14 21 .400 6 Miami 11 27 .289 10.5 Central Division W L Pct GB St. Louis 24 13 .649 — Cincinnati 22 16 .579 2.5 Pittsburgh 21 17 .553 3.5 Milwaukee 16 20 .444 7.5 Chicago 15 22 .405 9 —————————————————— Monday's results Milwaukee 5, Pittsburgh 1 St. Louis 6, N.Y. Mets 3 Atlanta at Arizona, late Colorado at Chicago Cubs, late Washington at L.A. Dodgers, late W L Pct GB New York 24 14 .632 — Baltimore 23 15 .605 1 Boston 22 16 .579 2 Tampa Bay 19 18 .514 4.5 Toronto 15 24 .385 9.5 Central Division W L Pct GB Detroit 21 15 .583 — Cleveland 21 16 .568 .5 Kansas City 18 16 .529 2 Minnesota 17 17 .500 3 Chicago 15 20 .429 5.5 —————————————————— Monday's results Texas at Oakland, late Cleveland 1, N.Y. Yankees 0, 1st game N.Y. Yankees 7, Cleveland 0, 2nd game Detroit 7, Houston 2 Chicago White Sox at Minnesota, late Kansas City at L.A. Angels, late Today's games San Francisco (Zito 3-1) at Toronto (Dickey 2-5), 4:07 p.m. Cleveland (Kazmir 2-1) at Philadelphia (Pettibone 2-0), 4:05 p.m. Milwaukee (Lohse 1-4) at Pittsburgh (Locke 3-1), 4:05 p.m. San Diego (Cashner 2-2) at Baltimore (Tillman 3-1), 4:05 p.m. Cincinnati (H.Bailey 1-3) at Miami (Nolasco 2-4), 4:10 p.m. Colorado (Francis 1-3) at Chi. Cubs (Villanueva 1-2), 5:05 p.m. N.Y. Mets (Gee 2-4) at St. Louis (Gast 0-0), 5:15 p.m. Atlanta (Teheran 2-0) at Arizona (Corbin 5-0), 6:40 p.m. Washington (Haren 4-3) at L.A. Dodgers (Kershaw 3-2), 7:10 p.m. Today's games Texas (D.Holland 3-2) at Oakland (Colon 3-2), 7:05 p.m. Cleveland (Kazmir 2-1) at Philadelphia (Pettibone 2-0), 4:05 p.m. San Diego (Cashner 2-2) at Baltimore (Tillman 3-1), 4:05 p.m. Seattle (F.Hernandez 5-2) at N.Y. Yankees (Sabathia 4-3), 4:05 p.m. San Francisco (Zito 3-1) at Toronto (Dickey 2-5), 4:07 p.m. Houston (Harrell 3-3) at Detroit (Fister 4-1), 4:08 p.m. Boston (Lackey 1-3) at Tampa Bay (M.Moore 6-0), 4:10 p.m. Chicago White Sox (Peavy 4-1) at Minnesota (Correia 4-2), 5:10 p.m. Kansas City (Guthrie 5-0) at L.A. Angels (Vargas 1-3), 7:05 p.m. Wednesday's games San Francisco at Toronto, 4:07 p.m. San Diego at Baltimore, 9:35 a.m. Cleveland at Philadelphia, 10:05 a.m. Atlanta at Arizona, 12:40 p.m. Milwaukee at Pittsburgh, 4:05 p.m. Cincinnati at Miami, 4:10 p.m. Colorado at Chicago Cubs, 5:05 p.m. N.Y. Mets at St. Louis, 5:15 p.m. Washington at L.A. Dodgers, 7:10 p.m. Wednesday's games Texas at Oakland, 12:35 p.m. San Diego at Baltimore, 9:35 a.m. Cleveland at Philadelphia, 10:05 a.m. Houston at Detroit, 10:08 a.m. Chi. White Sox at Minnesota, 10:10 a.m. Seattle at N.Y. Yankees, 4:05 p.m. San Francisco at Toronto, 4:07 p.m. Boston at Tampa Bay, 4:10 p.m. Kansas City at L.A. Angels, 7:05 p.m. 1. Jimmie Johnson 2. Carl Edwards 3. Matt Kenseth 4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 5. Clint Bowyer 6. Kasey Kahne 7. Brad Keselowski 8. Kyle Busch 9. Aric Almirola 10. Kevin Harvick 11. Paul Menard 12. Jeff Gordon 13. Greg Biffle 14. Martin Truex Jr. 15. Jamie McMurray 16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 17. Ryan Newman 18. Kurt Busch 19. Joey Logano 20. Jeff Burton 21. Tony Stewart 22. Juan Pablo Montoya 23. Marcos Ambrose 24. Mark Martin 25. Casey Mears 26. David Ragan 27. Denny Hamlin 28. Danica Patrick 29. Bobby Labonte 30. Dave Blaney 31. David Gilliland 32. J.J. Yeley 33. David Stremme 34. David Reutimann 35. Landon Cassill 36. Travis Kvapil 37. A J Allmendinger 38. Scott Speed 39. Michael McDowell 40. Michael Waltrip 41. Terry Labonte 42. Timmy Hill 43. Ken Schrader 44. Scott Riggs 45. Brian Keselowski 423 379 364 359 349 326 326 325 317 315 315 311 311 301 295 282 276 262 259 258 253 238 235 226 210 197 197 196 195 190 188 157 150 149 130 127 122 74 72 63 52 45 29 6 4 Upcoming Schedule May 18 — x-Sprint Showdown, Concord, N.C. May 18 — x-NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Concord, N.C. May 26 — Coca-Cola 600, Concord, N.C. June 2 — FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks, Dover, Del. June 9 — Party in the Poconos 400 presented by Walmart, Long Pond, Pa. June 16 — Quicken Loans 400, Brooklyn, Mich. June 23 — Toyota/Save Mart 350, Sonoma June 29 — Quaker State 400, Sparta, Ky. x- non-points race