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2B – Daily News – Friday, April 2, 2010 Sheets leads A’s into 2010 season GIANTS OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — For years, the story each spring for the Oakland Athletics was almost always about who had left instead of who had arrived. The A’s tried to endure as a parade of All-Stars left town when they became too expensive for the low-revenue team to keep. After weathering those losses for a few years, Oakland finally hit rock bot- tom last season by finishing in last place for the first time since 1998. The story heading into this sea- son is whether newcomers like Ben Sheets and Coco Crisp, and veter- ans who barely contributed last sea- son because of injuries like Justin Duchscherer and Eric Chavez, can once again make the A’s competi- tive in the AL West. ‘‘You add veterans like that into your lineup, it gives you people to lean on when you face things they’ve faced throughout their career,’’ catcher Kurt Suzuki said. ‘‘You can watch how they handle things and it kind of takes the pres- sure off the younger guys.’’ While those young guys showed some promise last season, they couldn’t do nearly enough to keep the A’s out of last place. The A’s used a rookie starting pitcher in 116 games last season, with Brett Anderson (11-11, 4.06 ERA) and Trevor Cahill (10-13, 4.63 ERA) getting most of the work. The A’s are hoping the lessons they learned last year will lead to success this season. ‘‘Having that one full year under their belt last year was huge just because they endured some success and some failures,’’ Suzuki said. ‘‘But they’re so smart and they’ve got so much savvy that they learned from it. They didn’t just put their head down and go the other way. They took the failure and turned it into something positive, and that’s what you like to see.’’ There will be much less pres- sure on those young pitchers this season if former All-Stars Sheets and Duchscherer are healthy enough to head the rotation. Nei- ther threw a pitch in the majors last season, leaving questions about how much they can provide this year. Duchscherer missed last season after undergoing elbow surgery and then being treated for clinical depression. Sheets, a four-time All-Star in Milwaukee, also missed last season recovering from right elbow surgery. He signed a $10 million contract for this season with the A’s — a rare case of the team outbid- ding the competition for a promi- nent free agent. Sheets struggled mightily in spring training, allowing 10 runs without retiring a batter in one start, but his mere presence has helped the A’s already. ‘‘We definitely needed someone like that as a pitching staff,’’ left- hander Dallas Braden said. ‘‘As much as I like to joke and have fun, I still haven’t done enough that lets me feel like I can be that guy for the staff. For someone to come in and ease the atmosphere, we needed that.’’ There will also be some notable changes offensively, where the team once known for beer-league style sluggers who lumbered around the bases is filled with ath- letic players whose biggest strength is their speed. The A’s stole 133 bases last year, more than they had from 2003-05 combined, while hitting an AL- worst 135 home runs. That was more than 100 fewer homers than their 2000 AL West championship team had with players like Jason Giambi, Matt Stairs, John Jaha and Olmedo Saenz. ‘‘If we allow ourselves to play the little man’s game as far as run- ning the bases and opening that up for us, it will make us a lot better,’’ said Crisp, who signed a $5.5 mil- lion contract after missing much of last season for Kansas City with a shoulder injury. ‘‘If we’re able to free ourselves mentally and allow ourselves to play like the Angels, we have a shot of surprising not only ourselves on the basepaths but other people, start to make them fumble around a lit- tle because they’re worried about whether or not we’re going to be aggressive.’’ While this year’s edition does have a player who could have fit right in back in 2000 in designated hitter Jack Cust, the offense centers around the speed of players like Crisp and Rajai Davis. Davis hit .305 last season and became the first Oakland player since Rickey Henderson to record 40 or more steals in a season with a career-high 41. In a sign of his prominence on the team, he is featured in one of the team’s promotional commer- cials, which used to center on the power hitters and pitchers. In the MCTfile photo Brett Anderson looks to help bolster the A’s rotation in 2010. promotional spots, Davis does everything fast, from shaving to getting dressed, even blowing past a pair of women race-walking on a sidewalk. If the A’s are going to speed past the competition in the AL West this season, they will need a different formula than the one that generated their success 10 years ago. ‘‘It should be pitching and defense and baserunning,’’ manag- er Bob Geren said. ‘‘We’ll have to scratch and fight for as many runs as we can and win close games. We’re probably not going to lead the league in homers. We have a lot of guys who can hit for pretty good averages and we have selective hit- ters, too.’’ Dayton wins NIT, beats North Carolina 79-68 NEW YORK (AP) — Dayton players danced at midcourt and then lingered on ladders as they cut down the nets at Madison Square Garden. Forgive these Flyers for taking a little extra time to soak it all in. They’re not as accustomed to trophy cere- monies as the North Caroli- na team they had just beat- en. Marcus Johnson scored 20 points and Dayton denied last year’s national champs another title, top- ping the Tar Heels 79-68 Thursday night to win the NIT. ‘‘This game kind of is a capsule of our season,’’ coach Brian Gregory said. ‘‘Started off great, had some tough times and then just kind of fight through, and ended up very success- ful at the end.’’ Relying on depth, defense and some clutch 3- point shooting, the Flyers took home their first title in 42 years and handed North Carolina one more disheart- ening loss at the end of a lousy season. ‘‘It’s a tough feeling right now, there’s no ques- tion about that. It’s been an unusual year for North Car- olina basketball,’’ coach Roy Williams said, his eyes red and puffy as he spoke about his seniors. ‘‘I’ve lived a charmed life in the past, and this has been a lit- tle tougher. I’m so proud of our guys for coming to play in this National Invitation Tournament and playing so well up until today and get- ting us to this point. We just didn’t finish the job.’’ Reserve guard Paul Williams added 16 points for No. 3 seed Dayton (25- 12), which bounced back from a disappointing regu- lar season of its own to win its third NIT title and first since 1968 under coach Don Donoher. Picked to win the Atlantic 10 Conference, the Scoreboard MLB Spring Training Glance AMERICAN LEAGUE WL Pct Tampa Bay 19 8 .704 Cleveland 17 9 .654 Detroit 18 10 .643 Minnesota 15 13 .536 Kansas City 13 12 .520 Boston 15 14 .517 New York 13 15 .464 Toronto 11 13 .458 Angels 11 14 .440 A’s 11 15 .423 Baltimore 11 17 .393 Seattle 11 17 .393 Chicago 10 16 .385 Texas 9 18 .333 NATIONALLEAGUE WL Pct GIANTS 21 10 .677 Atlanta 17 10 .630 Padres 17 10 .630 Chicago 17 11 .607 Colorado 16 13 .552 Philadelphia 13 12 .520 St. Louis 14 13 .519 Florida 14 14 .500 Milwaukee 14 14 .500 New York 14 14 .500 Houston 13 14 .481 Arizona 14 16 .467 Cincinnati 12 15 .444 Dodgers 11 14 .440 Washington 10 18 .357 Pittsburgh 7 19 .269 NOTE:Split-squad games count in the stand- ings;games against non-major league teams do not. ——— Thursday’s results Oakland at San Francisco, late Arizona (ss) 4, Kansas City 3 Arizona (ss) 11, Milwaukee 3 Baltimore 4, Tampa Bay 3 Boston 5, Minnesota 3 Chicago Cubs 2, Colorado 0 Chicago White Sox 9, Seattle 4 Cincinnati 7, Texas 6 Detroit (ss) 4, Atlanta 1 Detroit (ss) 4, Houston 2 Florida 3, St. Louis 1 L.A. Angels 7, Cleveland 6 N.Y.Yankees 5, Toronto 2 Philadelphia 4, Pittsburgh 2 Washington 9, N.Y.Mets 3 Cleveland at L.A. Dodgers, late San Diego at L.A. Angels, late Today’s Grapefruit League games Baltimore vs N.Y.Yankees, 10:05 a.m. Washington vs Boston, 10:05 a.m. Pittsburgh vs Philadelphia, 4:05 p.m. Today’s Cactus League games Cincinnati vs Cleveland, 7:05 p.m. Today’s other exhibition games Oakland at San Francisco, 7:15 p.m. N.Y. Mets at Tampa Bay, 3:10 p.m. St. Louis at Minnesota, 3:10 p.m. Chicago White Sox at Atlanta, 4:05 p.m. Seattle vs Colorado at Albuquerque, N.M., 4:05 p.m. Kansas City at Texas, 5:05 p.m. Toronto at Houston, 5:05 p.m. Detroit at Milwaukee, 5:10 p.m. Chicago Cubs at ARizona, 6:40 p.m. L.A.Dodgers at L.A.Angels, 7:05 p.m. NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL Pct GB x-Lakers 54 21 .720 — x-Phoenix 49 26 .653 5 Clippers 27 48 .360 27 KINGS 24 52 .316 30.5 WARRIORS 21 53 .284 32.5 Southwest Division WL Pct GB x-Dallas 50 26 .658 — San Antonio 45 29 .608 4 Memphis 38 36 .514 11 Houston 37 37 .500 12 New Orleans35 41 .461 15 Northwest Division WL Pct GB 50 26 .658 — x-Utah x-Denver 48 27 .640 1.5 Okla. City 46 28 .622 3 x-Portland 46 29 .613 3.5 Minnesota 15 60 .200 34.5 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL Pct GB y-Boston 47 27 .635 — Toronto 37 37 .500 10 New York 26 48 .351 21 Philadelphia 26 49 .347 21.5 New Jersey 10 65 .133 37.5 Southeast Division WL Pct GB x-Orlando 53 22 .707 — x-Atlanta 48 26 .649 4.5 Miami 41 34 .547 12 Charlotte 39 35 .527 13.5 Washington 22 52 .297 30.5 Central Division WL Pct GB y-Cleveland 59 16 .787 — Milwaukee 41 33 .554 17.5 Chicago 35 39 .473 23.5 Indiana 28 47 .373 31 Detroit 23 51 .311 35.5 x-clinched playoff spot y-clinched division ——— Thursday’s results Orlando 97, Dallas 82 Portland at Denver, late Today’s games New York at Golden State, 7:30 p.m. Chicago at Washington, 4 p.m. Miami at Indiana, 4 p.m. Milwaukee at Charlotte, 4 p.m. Houston at Boston, 4:30 p.m. Atlanta at Cleveland, 5 p.m. New Orleans at Memphis, 5 p.m. Phoenix at Detroit, 5 p.m. Orlando at San Antonio, 5:30 p.m. Utah at L.A. Lakers, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday’s late results Utah 128, Golden State 104 Portland 118, New York 90 NIT Championship — Thursday’s result Dayton 79, North Carolina 68 NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL OT Pts GF GA x-SHARKS 47 20 10 104 248 203 x-Phoenix 47 25 6 100 212 193 Kings Ducks Dallas 43 27 6 92 220 202 37 31 8 82 216 229 34 29 14 82 221 239 Central Division WL OT Pts GF GA x-Chicago 47 22 7 101 247 195 Nashville 45 28 6 96 217 216 Detroit 41 23 13 95 215 203 St. Louis 37 31 9 83 209 210 Columbus 32 33 13 77 210 249 Northwest Division WL OT Pts GF GA Vancouver 46 26 4 96 248 196 Colorado 41 28 7 89 227 212 Calgary 39 29 9 87 196 194 Minnesota 37 34 6 80 208 230 Edmonton 24 45 7 55 194 260 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL OT Pts GF GA x-Pittsburgh 44 26 7 95 237 219 x-New Jersey 44 26 6 94 203 184 Philadelphia 38 33 6 82 225 216 N.Y.Rangers 34 32 10 78 201 206 N.Y.Islanders 32 35 10 74 205 240 Northeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA x-Buffalo 43 24 10 96 223 195 x-Ottawa 43 30 5 91 214 223 Montreal 37 32 8 82 205 210 Boston 35 30 12 82 191 190 Toronto 29 36 13 71 208 255 Southeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA z-Washington 50 15 12 112 298 220 Atlanta 34 32 12 80 228 244 Carolina 33 35 10 76 215 241 Florida 31 34 12 74 198 226 Tampa Bay 31 34 12 74 201 240 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. x-clinched playoff spot z-clinched conference Thursday’s results Florida 1, Boston 0 Detroit 3, Columbus 2 Nashville 3, St. Louis 2 N.Y. Islanders 6, Philadelphia 4 Ottawa 4, Carolina 3, SO Toronto 4, Buffalo 2 Washington 2, Atlanta 1 Vancouver at Los Angeles, late Today’s games San Jose at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Chicago at New Jersey, 4 p.m. Montreal at Philadelphia, 4 p.m. Major Leauge Baseball MLB—Announced the retirement of senior vice president for public relations Rich Levin, Wednesday’s late result Calgary 2, Phoenix 1 MLS WESTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Houston 1 0 1 4 3 2 Salt Lake 1 1 0 3 4 2 Seattle Colorado 1 0 0 3 1 0 Galaxy 1 0 0 3 2 0 1 0 0 3 1 0 FC Dallas 0 0 1 1 1 1 Chivas 0 1 0 0 0 1 QUAKES 01 0 0 0 3 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Kansas City 1 0 0 3 4 0 Columbus 1 0 0 3 2 0 New York 1 0 0 3 1 0 Chicago 0 1 0 0 0 1 New England 0 1 0 0 0 1 Philadelphia 0 1 0 0 0 2 Toronto FC 0 1 0 0 0 2 D.C. ——— Thursday’s results Houston 2, Real Salt Lake 1 Chivas USA at Los Angeles, late DEALS National Hockey League ANAHEIM—Recalled D Nathan Oystrick from Chicago (AHL).Reassigned C MacGre- gor Sharp and D Stu Bickel from Bakersfield (ECHL) to San Antonio (AHL). DETROIT—Reassigned D Brian Lashoff from Kingston (OHL) to Grand Rapids (AHL). OTTAWA—Signed D Patrick Wiercioch to a three-year contract. PHILADELPHIA—Recalled G Jeremy Duchesne from Adirondack (AHL). N.Y. Rangers at Tampa Bay, 4:30 p.m. Edmonton at Dallas, 5:30 p.m. Calgary at Colorado, 6:30 p.m. Vancouver at Anaheim, 7 p.m. 0 1 0 0 0 4 NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie. effective at the end of the year. American League BALTIMORE—Released C Chad Moeller unconditionally. BOSTON—Reassigned RHP Fernando Cabrera to their minor league camp. CLEVELAND—Optioned RHP Carlos Car- rasco to Columbus (IL). KANSAS CITY—Announced the retirement of C Vance Wilson. Assigned INF/OF Scott Thorman, C Edwin Bellorin, INF Irving Falu, LHP Bruce Chen, RHP Josh Rupe and RHP Jorge Campillo to their minor league camp. Optioned OF Brian Anderson optioned to the minor league camp. SEATTLE—Optioned LHP Garrett Olson to Tacoma (PCL) TEXAS—Acquired LHP Ben Snyder from San Francisco for LHP Edwin Escobar and assigned Snyder outright to Frisco (Texas). Claimed INF Ryan Garko off waivers from Seattle. Optioned C Max Ramirez to Okla- homa City (PCL). TORONTO—Optioned LHP Brett Cecil and RHP Josh Roenicke to Las Vegas (PCL). National League CHICAGO—Named Jon Greifenkamp vice president/chief financial officer. CINCINNATI—Optioned RHP Carlos Fisher to Louisville (IL). Reassigned C Corky Miller to their minor league camp. FLORIDA—Purchased the contract of RHP Clay Hensley from New Orleans (PCL). NEW YORK—Placed SS Jose Reyes on the 15-day DL, retroactive to March 26. ST. LOUIS—Traded INF Julio Lugo to Balti- more for a player to be named or cash con- siderations. WASHINGTON—Optioned RHP Luis Atilano to Syracuse (IL). National Football League CHICAGO—Released DE Alex Brown. JACKSONVILLE—Signed DE Reggie Hay- ward to a one-year contract. N.Y. GIANTS—Signed P Jeff Feagles and S Deon Grant to one-year contracts. College HOUSTON—Named James Dickey men’s basketball coach. MONTANA STATE—Announced sopho- more F Austin Brown is leaving the men’s basketball team. SAINT LOUIS—Announced freshman G Jeff Reid will transfer from the men’s basketball team. WAKE FOREST—Announced sophomore F Al-Farouq Aminu will enter the NBA draft. athletic and experienced Flyers faded late and missed the NCAA tourna- ment before turning things around and finishing on a high note. ‘‘We struggled through the season. But being in the NIT, we stayed positive and we showed we have heart and character,’’ said Chris Johnson, selected the tour- nament’s most outstanding player. ‘‘It shows today that we are a good team. We just won a championship.’’ (Continued from page 1B) The Giants are count- ing on it. New hitting coach Hensley Meulens has been working with San- doval and the rest of the Giants to be more selec- tive at the plate. Cain and Co. can only hope for more run sup- port. Cain and Lincecum were each All-Stars last year. ‘‘I don’t think that’s anything you can think about when you go out there,’’ Cain said. ‘‘When you start thinking about stuff you can’t control, you’re just going to get sidetracked. You worry about going out there and pitching and when I go to the plate getting my job done there as well.’’ Cain was a 14-game winner in 2009, a career best for victories. Sanchez also pitched an improba- ble no-hitter July 10. Lincecum recorded an NL-leading 261 strikeouts last season and tied for the league lead with four complete games and two shutouts. He went 15-7 with a 2.48 ERA in 32 starts and 225 1-3 innings. That came after his break- out 2008 campaign. He insists he’s grown up since his October mar- ijuana arrest in his native Washington state. The hard-throwing right-hander isn’t resting on his laurels of the past two years and the hard- ware he collected along the way — even with a new $23 million, two-year contract in hand after he avoided an arbitration hearing at the last moment. ‘‘You go home and I can think about my awards and what hap- pened and what kind of pressure that can make for me. That’s what it is, it’s me making pressure as opposed to just being out there and saying: ’Hey, what I did in the past is in the past. This is a new sea- son and I just want to relax and focus on now.’’’ Aaron Rowand is the Giants’ new regular lead- off hitter after doing so for a couple of months last season, and he’s eager for a fresh start at the plate. The center fielder has bat- ted .271 and .261, respec- tively, in his first two sea- sons with San Francisco. ‘‘On paper we look good, but you’ve still got to go out and perform,’’ Rowand said. ‘‘We have the talent level in here to compete with anybody. You’ve still got to go out and do it. We have a great group of guys in the club- house. It’s fun.’’