Red Bluff Daily News

May 09, 2011

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Sports 1B Monday May 9, 2011 Red Wings beat Sharks 4-3 to stay alive SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings are coming home with a chance to take a step toward history. Suddenly, that seems well within reach. Tomas Holmstrom broke a tie with 6:08 remaining, and the Red Wings scored three third-period goals to avoid elimination with a 4-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Sunday night. ‘‘There’s a lot of character on this team. There’s not any quit,’’ said Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard, who made 39 saves. ‘‘Our season was on the line there in the third period, and we found a way.’’ Danny Cleary and Jonathan Ericsson also scored in the final period to send the series back to Detroit for Game 6 on Tuesday night. After winning the first three games, San Jose is clinging to a 3- 2 lead. Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski and Devin Setoguchi scored to help the Sharks take a 3-1 lead early in the third period. Then the Red Wings scored two quick goals before Holmstrom redirect- ed the winner past Antti Niemi, leaving a sellout crowd stunned and silent. Niklas Kronwell also scored Mavs eliminate Lakers DALLAS (AP) — So long, Phil. So long, chances for another Lakers three-peat. Hello, Western Confer- ence finals for Dirk Now- itzki and the Dallas Maver- icks. Jason Terry tied an NBA postseason record with nine 3-pointers and the Mavericks matched a league playoff mark with 20 3s on their way to a 122- 86 victory over the Lakers on Sunday and a sweep of their second-round series against the most successful coach in NBA history and the two-time defending champions. Terry made five 3s in the second quarter, personally outscoring the Lakers 20- 16 in the period and help- ing Dallas lead by 24 at halftime. When Terry made 3s on consecutive possessions early in the third quarter, he drained whatever comeback hopes Los Angeles had left. Early in the fourth quarter, the Lakers were so devastated that Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum resorted to throw- ing cheap shots. They were ejected 45 seconds apart, with Jackson sitting on the bench looking as if he’d already checked out. Kobe Bryant soon joined him on the sideline, with deep reserves playing out the final minutes of what turned out to be the sec- ond-widest margin of defeat in Lakers playoff history and in Jackson’s storied playoff career. Jackson left the court with a tight smile, accept- ing hugs and handshakes from Dallas coach Rick Carlisle, Jason Kidd and Mark Cuban. It was the first time he’d been swept in his 21 postseasons on the sideline. It hadn’t hap- pened to Bryant and the Lakers since 1999, the year before the Zen Master and Pavel Datsyuk added three assists for Detroit. ‘‘I think you put yourselves in a very dangerous position if you get back on your heels against that team,’’ Sharks coach Todd McLel- lan said. ‘‘I didn’t think we did that tonight. They just outplayed us in the third period.’’ Glover wins for 1st time since '09 MCT photo Lucas Glover celebrates after hitting his putt on the 18th green during the final round of the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte Sunday. CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Lucas Glover figures he has played more than 100 rounds with Jonathan Byrd, from junior golf when they were teenagers to their years togeth- er at Clemson and nearly a decade on the PGA Tour. The stakes were never as high as they were Sunday in the MCT photo Lakers center Andrew Bynum (17) knocked Dallas Mavericks point guard Jose Juan Barea (11) down hard in the 4th period during Game 4 of the NBA Western Conference Playoff Sunday. arrived in Los Angeles. This is the fourth time any NBA champion defending multiple titles has been swept, according to STATS LLC. The last was the 1996 Houston Rock- ets. Giants beat Rockies in 9th inning again SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Mike Fontenot made a big play with his glove in the top of the ninth inning. Then he came through with his bat. Just another routine day for Team Torture. Fontenot’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth drove in Aaron Rowand and lifted the Giants to a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday, the sec- ond walk-off win at AT&T Park in two nights for the defending World Series champs. ‘‘It’s like last year — there’s magic inside,’’ Fontenot said after the first game-ending RBI of his career. ‘‘It can definitely get us going. To get a chance to come back home and pull off two walk-off wins is huge for us.’’ Fontenot has delivered repeatedly for the Giants since being moved to the No. 3 slot in the batting order after Pablo Sandoval broke his right hand in late April. After the Rockies scored twice in the seventh to tie it 2-all, San Francisco reliever Brian Wilson struck out Ian Stewart to start the ninth. Pinch-hitter Seth Smith followed with a sharp liner up the middle that appeared headed for a hit until Fontenot raced over from short- stop and caught the ball at the edge of the outfield grass. That was big because the next two Colorado hitters reached base before Wilson (2-1) got Dexter Fowler to ground out. Fontenot then gave the Giants their second consecu- tive win over the NL West-leading Rockies. ‘‘It’s similar to last year,’’ San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said. ‘‘We don’t do anything easy.’’ Rowand and Freddy Sanchez hit back-to-back sin- gles off Felipe Paulino (0-3) to begin the ninth-inning rally. Rowand drew a four-pitch walk in the first, took sec- ond on Sanchez’s single and scored two batters later on Buster Posey’s groundout. Hawks, Bulls ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Hawks finally won a second-round play- off game at home. They can thank a guy who frequently gets booed by the home fans, and a young guard who wasn’t supposed to be playing much at all. Josh Smith answered his critics with a huge See NBA, page 2B Wells Fargo Championship. Glover was never better. Clinging to a one-shot lead, Glover closed with three gutsy pars of the brutal finishing stretch at Quail Hollow, slamming his fist when he made the last one from 7 feet for a 3-under 69 and what looked to be a sure win. Then came Byrd, with two great pars of his own, followed by a shot into 15 feet that he made for birdie on the 18th for a 72 to force a playoff. Glover wound up a winner with a par on the first extra hole, ending a drought of 41 tournaments that stretched nearly two years back to his U.S. Open win at Bethpage Black in 2009. It was the eighth playoff this year on the PGA Tour, and the third in a row. "I'm elated," Glover said. "Any time you win, you're pleased. It means you beat everybody. You did what you set out to do on Thursday morning when the bell range. See PGA, page 2B Homers lead A's past Royals KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — When Oakland right-hander Tyson Ross took the mound against Kansas City on Sunday, he had no idea he would be called upon to execute a defensive play he'd never even seen before, let alone practiced. In the second inning of what turned into a 5-2 victo- ry for the Athletics, Jeff Francoeur singled and headed for second when Eric Hosmer hit a hard grounder to second base- man Mark Ellis. He knocked the ball down and tried to scoop it to shortstop Cliff Pennington for the force at second, but the ball sailed into no man's land between second and third. Francoeur hesitated for a couple of seconds, then kept going as third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff ran down the ball. That left third base uncovered. But Ross alertly bolted for the bag and got there just in time to stretch out his 6-foot-6 frame and make the tag for a highly unusual 4-5-1 putout. "I did everything in my power to get over there," Ross said. "It was a foot MCT photo Athletics first baseman Daric Barton (10) throws out Kansas City Royals' Alcides Escobar (2) at first on a bunt in the seventh inning Sunday. race and I'm not too fast. I saw Kouz get the ball. Him and Francoeur kind of looked at each other and I looked and realized I've got to bust my tail over there. Kouz gave me a good feed and I'm just lucky I'm tall and was able to cut him off short." It wasn't the sort of play a guy can practice. "I've never even seen that play before," Ross said. "Kouz threw it right where I needed it to be." Using his length, Ross barely got to Francoeur in time to make the tag. "I don't know any other pitcher who can make that play," Oakland manager Bob Geren said. "He closed like a horse in a horse race. I had a feeling he was going to get the out, but I was just hoping he didn't hurt him- self. It's a dangerous play for a pitcher, but the athleti- cism kicks in."

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