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2B – Daily News – Tuesday, June 29, 2010 Hendrick teammates Earnhardt and Martin headed in opposite directions CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Dale Earnhardt Jr. is on a roll, at least by his recent standards, as he returns to Day- tona International Speedway this week. His eighth-place finish Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway moved him just three points outside the top-12 in the Sprint Cup Series stand- ings. With one of his best tracks before him, Earnhardt could make some seri- ous gains Saturday night and find him- self in legitimate contention for a berth in the Chase for the championship. He knew it, too, as he completed the final few laps at New Hampshire. ‘‘I was doing the math those last 10 laps,’’ he joked. As Earnhardt prepares for Daytona, where he stormed through the field in the closing laps of the season-opener to nearly steal a victory in the Daytona 500, his legion of fans knows another similar drive will be a tremendous step toward rebuilding his No. 88 team. What’s less discussed is the price of his improvement. While Earnhardt is moving closer and closer back to respectability, Hen- drick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin is slipping farther and farther out of championship contention. Martin was the lowest finisher of Hendrick’s four drivers on Sunday, coming in 21st for his seventh finish outside the top-10 in the last eight races. He’s 11th in the points, clinging to a spot inside the top-12. What’s shocking is that Martin and his No. 5 team couldn’t have been more on it last season, when they had three victories at this point and were well on their way toward challenging teammate Jimmie Johnson for the title. Although they settled for second in the final standings, it was a banner year for NASCAR’s most respected driver. But instead of working on what the team could do to take that final step toward a title this season, Gustafson and his crew turned their attention to helping Earnhardt’s No. 88 team. There was an official request from team owner Rick Hendrick to Gustafson, one of the most loyal employees he’s ever had, and Gustafson, as always, obliged. It meant the loss of his lead race engineer and a key mechanic — both were moved to assist Earnhardt’s crew chief Lance McGrew— as well as a total reorganization of the race shop to get the No. 5 and No. 88 teams work- ing in unison. The idea was to strengthen both teams, and after a rough patch, Earn- hardt seems headed in the right direc- tion. He had stumbled in the standings after five straight finishes outside the top-15, and that included a demoraliz- ing 30th-place finish at Dover. But in the last three races, he was seventh at Michigan, 11th at Sonoma — and considering how much he hates the road course, tying his career-best finish was a moral victory — and final- ly eighth on Sunday. Martin, meanwhile, has headed the opposite direction. He’s led just one lap in the last 11 races and his fourth-place finish at Charlotte is his only top-10 in the last eight events. Gustafson blames the team’s problems on his own inade- quacies in dealing with NASCAR’s switch in March from the wing to the spoiler. Only everyone else wonders what role the focus on Earnhardt has played Blake Cooper allowed three hits in eight-plus innings and Bobby Haney drove in a career-high three runs, mov- ing South Carolina within a win of its first national title with a 7-1 victory over UCLA in Game 1 of the College World Series finals Monday night. Pitching on three days’ rest for the second straight time, Cooper struck out 10 in the No. 5 team’s demise. Earnhardt admits tying the two teams together has improved his group. ‘‘I think it helped us,’’ he said, before quickly adding, ‘‘I know Mark is struggling compared to last year. But it helped us as a team. (Engineer) Chris Heroy come over was a big deal for me and Lance both. I think he’s enjoyed being part of our group.’’ Gustafson, on the other hand, won’t blame their struggles on linking up with the No. 88. ‘‘If I was somebody who was not involved in this everyday, that is what I would say because that is the most obvious and makes the most sense,’’ Gustafson said. ‘‘I think it’s wrong. I do think our shop has made a net gain, even though we haven’t won any races. The 88 is significantly better than what they were. So I think the team strength is a lot better. ‘‘Are there areas where we may have slowed down a little bit? Yes. But that’s not why we are where we are. And there’s a bigger gain, that when we all get right, will make us even stronger. It’s like cleaning up your house: Sometimes you have to mess it up to get it how you want it.’’ The true test of this partnership won’t be at Daytona, where Martin and Earnhardt swept the front row in Feb- ruary and made everyone believe their strengthened relationship was working wonders. Chances are, Earnhardt is going to do just fine Saturday night and likely leave Daytona inside the top 12. His success brings more attention to NASCAR, and that’s good for every- one. Well, maybe everyone except Martin. Cooper allows 3 hits, SC within win of title OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — and carried a one-hitter into the ninth before running into trouble. South Carolina fans cheered a drawn-out ‘‘COOOOOP’’ as the senior right-hander left after 136 Gerrit Cole (11-4) pitched seven innings and took the loss. Scoreboard WORLD CUP Second Round Round of 16 Monday’s results Netherlands 2, Slovakia 1 Brazil 3, Chile 0 Today’s games Paraguay vs. Japan, 7 a.m., ESPN Spain vs.Portugal, 11:30 a.m., ESPN Quarterfinals Friday’s games Netherlands vs.Brazil, 7 a.m. Uruguay vs. Ghana,11:30 a.m. Saturday’s games Germany vs. Argentina, 7 a.m. Today’s game winners, 11:30 a.m. MLB West Division Texas American League WL Pct GB Angels 43 35 .551 4.5 A’s 46 29 .613 — 37 40 .481 10 Seattle 31 44 .413 15 East Division WL Pct GB New York 47 28 .627 — Boston 46 31 .597 2 Tampa Bay 44 31 .587 3 Toronto 40 37 .519 8 Baltimore 23 52 .307 24 Central Division Detroit WL Pct GB 41 34 .547 — Minnesota 41 35 .539 .5 Chicago 39 36 .520 2 Kansas City 33 44 .429 9 Cleveland 28 47 .373 13 ——— Monday’s results Cleveland 2, Toronto 1 Detroit 7, Minnesota 5 Kansas City 3, Chicago 1 Today’s games Oakland (Braden 4-7) at Baltimore (Matusz 2-8),4:05 p.m.,CSNC Seattle (Cl.Lee 6-3) at New York (P.Hughes 10-1), 4:05 p.m. Toronto (Morrow 5-5) at Cleveland (Carmona 6-6), 4:05 p.m. Tampa Bay (J.Shields 6-7) at Boston (Lackey 8-3), 4:10 p.m. Chicago (Floyd 2-7) at Kansas City (Bannister 7-5), 5:10 p.m. Detroit (Galarraga 3-1) at Minnesota (Blackburn 6-5), 5:10 p.m. Texas (Feldman 5-6) at L.os Angeles (Pineiro 7-6), 7:05 p.m. Sunday’s late results Texas 10, Houston 1 N.Y.Yankees 8, L.A. Dodgers 6, 10 innings West Division National League WL Pct GB Padres 45 30 .600 — GIANTS 40 34 .541 4.5 Dodgers 40 35 .533 5 Colorado 39 36 .520 6 Arizona 30 47 .390 16 East Division WL Pct GB Atlanta 45 32 .584 — New York 43 33 .566 1.5 Philadelphia 40 34 .541 3.5 Florida 36 40 .474 8.5 Washington 33 44 .429 12 Central Division WL Pct GB Cincinnati 43 34 .558 — St. Louis 42 34 .553 .5 Milwaukee 34 42 .447 8.5 Chicago 33 43 .434 9.5 Houston 30 47 .390 13 Pittsburgh 26 50 .342 16.5 ——— Monday’s results Los Angeles at San Francisco, late Atlanta 5, Washington 0 Cincinnati 7, Philadelphia 3 Florida 10, N.Y.Mets 3 Houston 9, Milwaukee 5 Pittsburgh 2, Chicago Cubs 1 St. Louis 6, Arizona 5 Colorado at San Diego, late Today’s games College World Series South Carolina 1,UCLA 0 Championship Series, Best-of-3 Game 1 — South Carolina 7, UCLA 1 Game 2 — Tuesday, 4:30 p.m., ESPN Game 3 — Wednesday, 4:30 p.m. WNBA EASTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB Atlanta 11 4 .733 — Connecticut 9 5 .643 1.5 Indiana 9 5 .643 1.5 Washington 9 5 .643 1.5 New York 6 7 .462 4 Chicago 6 9 .400 5 WESTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB Seattle 13 2 .867 — San Antonio 5 7 .417 6.5 Phoenix 5 9 .357 7.5 Minnesota 5 10 .333 8 Los Angeles 3 10 .231 9 Tulsa 3 11 .214 9.5 ——— Today’s games Indiana at Washington, 4 p.m., ESPN2 Phoenix at Atlanta, 4 p.m. Connecticut at Tulsa, 5 p.m. San Antonio at Seattle, 7 p.m. New York at Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m. NASCAR Sprint Cup Points Leaders 1.Kevin Harvick 2. Jimmie Johnson 2,384 3.Kyle Busch 2,489 2,328 4.Denny Hamlin 5. Jeff Gordon 6.Kurt Busch 7. Matt Kenseth 8. Jeff Burton 9.Tony Stewart 10. Greg Biffle 11. Mark Martin 12. Carl Edwards 2,304 2,302 2,288 2,204 2,159 2,158 2,126 2,047 2,020 Los Angeles (Ely 3-5) at San Francisco (Cain 6-6),7:15 p.m.,CSNB New York (Takahashi 6-3) vs. Florida (N.Robertson 5-6) at San Juan, 4:05 p.m. Philadelphia (Blanton 3-5) at Cincinnati (Leake 5-1), 4:10 p.m. Washington (Stammen 1-2) at Atlanta (D.Lowe 9-5), 4:10 p.m. Pittsburgh (Karstens 2-2) at Chicago (Lilly 2-6), 5:05 p.m., WGN Houston (Myers 5-5) at Milwaukee (Gallardo 7-3), 5:10 p.m. Arizona (Willis 1-0) at St. Louis (Wainwright 10-5), 5:15 p.m. Colorado (Hammel 5-3) at San Diego (LeBlanc 4-5), 7:05 p.m. Sunday’s late results Texas 10, Houston 1 N.Y.Yankees 8, L.A. Dodgers 6, 10 innings North Division GOLDEN Golden League WL Pct. GB OUTLAWS 24 8 .750 — Calgary 20 12 .625 4 Edmonton 16 16 .500 8 Victoria 14 19 .424 10.5 St. George 12 20 .375 12 South Division Maui Yuma WL Pct. GB 20 11 .645 — 19 13 .594 1.5 Tucson 15 18 .455 6 Orange Co. 14 17 .452 6 Tijuana 6 26 .188 14.5 ——— Monday’s results Orange County at Chico, late Maui at St. George, late Today’s games Orange County at Chico, 7:08 p.m. Edmonton at Calgary, 6:05 p.m. Maui at St. George, 6:05 p.m. Yuma at Tucson, 7p.m. NCAA 13. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2,017 14.Ryan Newman 2,005 15. Clint Bowyer 16. Joey Logano 2,004 1,921 17. Jamie McMurray 1,899 18. Martin Truex Jr. 19.David Reutimann 1,870 20. Kasey Kahne 21. A J Allmendinger 1,845 22. Juan Pablo Montoya 1,837 23.Paul Menard 24.David Ragan 1,738 1,660 25. Brad Keselowski 1,643 26. Scott Speed 27. Marcos Ambrose 1,593 28. Elliott Sadler 29.Sam Hornish Jr. 1,499 30. Regan Smith 31.Bobby Labonte 32.Robby Gordon 33.David Gilliland 34.Travis Kvapil 35. Brian Vickers 36.Kevin Conway 37.David Stremme 38.Joe Nemechek 39.Max Papis 40. Mike Bliss 1,631 1,548 1,432 41.Dave Blaney, 42. Casey Mears, 1,276 1,202 1,193 1,172 1,158 1,048 713 689 662 621 588 556 43. Michael McDowell 471 44. Bill Elliott 45. Boris Said 46. J.J.Yeley 47. Reed Sorenson 211 48. Michael Waltrip 49.Todd Bodine 50.Terry Cook 448 399 385 200 169 164 Upcoming Schedule July 3 — Coke Zero 400, Daytona Beach, Fla. July 10 — LifeLock.com 400, Joliet, Ill. July 25 — Brickyard 400, Indianapolis Nationwide Points Leaders 1. Brad Keselowski 2. Carl Edwards 3. Justin Allgaier 4.Kyle Busch 5.Kevin Harvick 6.Paul Menard 2,641 2,394 2,201 2,140 2,003 1,998 7. Brendan Gaughan 1,819 8. Steve Wallace 9. Joey Logano 10.Trevor Bayne 11. Jason Leffler 12.Tony Raines 13. Brian Scott 14. Michael Annett 15. Reed Sorenson 1,548 16.Kenny Wallace 17. Mike Wallace 18. Mike Bliss 19. Greg Biffle 1,804 1,758 1,721 1,718 1,613 1,603 1,595 1,494 1,464 1,380 1,368 20. Michael McDowell 1,363 Upcoming Schedule July 2 — Subway Jalapeno 250, Daytona Beach, Fla. July 9 — Dollar General 300, Joliet, Ill. July 17 — Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250, Madison, Ill. July 24 — Kroger 200, Indianapolis PGA FedExCup Leaders Rank Pts Money 1. Ernie Els 2. Phil Mickelson 3. Jim Furyk 4. Anthony Kim 5.Ben Crane 6.Tim Clark 7. Dustin Johnson 8.Bubba Watson 9. Matt Kuchar 10. Robert Allenby 11. Camilo Villegas 12. Steve Stricker 13. Rickie Fowler 14. Justin Rose 15.Bo Van Pelt 16. Bill Haas 17. Zach Johnson 18. Jeff Overton 19. K.J. Choi 20. Hunter Mahan 1.Tiger Woods 2. Phil Mickelson 1,751 $3,941,028 1,521 $3,199,838 1,445 $2,852,528 1,215 $2,518,521 1,200 $2,379,776 1,195 $2,729,064 1,137 $2,312,724 1,124 $2,072,761 1,114 $2,331,955 1,101 $2,448,928 1,091 $2,330,936 1,061 $2,171,122 1,045 $2,083,691 1,042 $2,043,748 974 $1,937,564 949 $1,585,320 931 $1,833,899 873 $1,864,741 872 $1,496,764 868 $1,757,016 World Golf Ranking USA 10.48 USA 9.74 3.Lee Westwood ENG 8.24 4. Steve Stricker 5. Jim Furyk USA 6.99 USA 6.89 1,872 1,846 6. Ernie Els 7. Luke Donald 8. Ian Poulter 9.Paul Casey 10. Rory McIlroy SAF 6.05 ENG 5.56 ENG 5.47 ENG 5.31 NIR WIMBLEDON Monday At The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, Wimbledon, England Purse: $20.3 million (Grand Slam) Surface: Grass-Outdoor Men Singles Fourth Round Roger Federer (1), Switzerland, def.Jurgen Melz- er (16), Austria, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (10), France, def. Julien Ben- neteau (32), France, 6-1, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. Tomas Berdych (12), Czech Republic, def.Daniel Brands, Germany, 4-6, 7-6 (1), 7-5, 6-3. Novak Djokovic (3), Serbia, def. Lleyton Hewitt (15), Australia, 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Andy Murray (4), Britain, def. Sam Querrey (18), United States, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. Robin Soderling (6), Sweden, def.David Ferrer (9), Spain, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5. Yen-hsun Lu, Taiwan, def.Andy Roddick (5), Unit- ed States, 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 9-7. Rafael Nadal (2), Spain, def.Paul-Henri Mathieu, France, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2. Women Singles Fourth Round Venus Williams (2), United States, def. Jarmila Groth, Australia, 6-4, 7-6 (5). Tsvetana Pironkova, Bulgaria, def.Marion Bartoli (11), France, 6-4, 6-4. Vera Zvonareva (21), Russia, def.Jelena Jankovic (4), Serbia, 6-1, 3-0, retired. Li Na (9), China, def.Agnieszka Radwanska (7), Poland, 6-3, 6-2. Kim Clijsters (8), Belgium, def.Justine Henin (17), Belgium, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3. Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic, def.Caroline Woz- niacki (3), Denmark, 6-2, 6-0. Kaia Kanepi, Estonia, def. Klara Zakopalova, Czech Republic, 6-2, 6-4. Serena Williams (1), United States, def. Maria Sharapova (16), Russia, 7-6 (9), 6-4. MLS WESTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Galaxy 10 1 3 33 22 4 Salt Lake 7 3 3 24 22 11 Colorado 6 3 3 21 15 11 FC Dallas 4 2 6 18 15 12 QUAKES 54 3 18 15 14 Houston 5 7 2 17 20 21 Seattle Chivas USA 3 9 1 10 14 20 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Columbus 7 2 3 24 18 11 New York 8 5 0 24 17 16 Toronto FC 5 4 3 18 15 14 Chicago 4 3 5 17 17 16 Kansas City 3 6 3 12 11 16 New England 3 8 2 11 13 21 Philadelphia 3 7 1 10 14 22 D.C. WPS WL T Pts GF GA FC Gold Pride 7 3 1 22 15 10 Philadelphia 6 3 3 21 20 15 Sky Blue FC 5 4 2 17 12 13 Washington 4 3 3 15 17 14 Chicago 3 5 3 12 8 10 Boston Atlanta ARENA NATIONALCONFERENCE Midwest Division WL T Pct PF PA Chicago 9 3 0 .750 690 627 Milwaukee 7 5 0 .583 775 692 Iowa 5 6 0 .455 552 573 Cleveland 5 7 0 .417 714 681 West Division WL T Pct PF PA Spokane 9 2 0 .818 729 596 Arizona 8 3 0 .727 715 655 Utah 1 10 0 .091 495 734 AMERICAN CONFERENCE 1 5 4 7 7 12 1 5 3 6 5 11 Southwest Division WL T Pct PF PA 7 5 0 .583 734 684 Tulsa 5.12 Okla. City 4 7 0 .364 590 617 Bossier-Shrev. 3 9 0 .250 634 776 Dallas South Division 1 10 0 .091 560 646 WL T Pct PF PA Tampa Bay 8 3 0 .727 642 565 Jacksonville 7 4 0 .636 603 587 Alabama 6 5 0 .545 586 575 Orlando 5 6 0 .455 585 596 Pro Rodeo Leaders RODEO All-Around 1.Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas $124,063 2.Ryan Jarrett, Summerville, Ga. $66,405 3.Josh Peek, Pueblo, Colo. $60,330 4.Clint Robinson, Spanish Fork, Utah $54,959 5.Russell Cardoza, Terrebonne, Ore. $41,101 6.Curtis Cassidy, Donalda, Alberta $35,126 7.Ace Slone, Cuero, Texas 8.Jesse Sheffield, Austin, Colo. $32,326 9.Cash Myers, Athens, Texas 10.Landon McClaugherty, Tilden, Texas $27,857 Bareback Riding 1.Ryan Gray, Cheney, Wash. 2.Kaycee Feild, Payson, Utah 3.Steven Dent, Mullen, Neb. 4.Matt Bright, Azle, Texas $88,478 $64,626 $58,974 $41,020 5.Wes Stevenson, Lubbock, Texas $38,952 6.Clint Cannon, Waller, Texas 10. Steven Peebles, Redmond, Ore. $33,019 Steer Wrestling 1.Cody Cassidy, Donalda, Alberta $70,615 2.Luke Branquinho, Los Alamos 3.Matt Reeves, Pampa, Texas $51,947 $41,980 4.Justin Blaine Davis, Bartonville, Texas $39,099 5.Josh Peek, Pueblo, Colo. 6.Gabe Ledoux, Kaplan, La. 7.Dean Gorsuch, Gering, Neb. 8.Nick Guy, Sparta, Wis. $36,101 $35,240 $34,323 $33,702 9.Clayton Morrison, Cavalier, N.D. $33,534 10.Wade Sumpter, Fowler, Colo. $33,118 Team Roping (header) 1.Turtle Powell, Stephenville, Texas $73,957 2.Chad Masters, Clarksville, Tenn. $49,178 3.Clay Tryan, Billings, Mont. 4.Luke Brown, Stephenville, Texas $48,765 $38,269 5. Colby Lovell, Madisonville, Texas $36,486 6.Charly Crawford, Prineville,OR 7.Caleb Mitchell, Pollok, Texas 4 7 3 15 15 20 8.Ty Blasingame, Ramah, Colo. $32,696 9.Travis Tryan, Billings, Mont. 10.Colby Siddoway, Hooper, Utah Team Roping (heeler) 1.Cory Petska, Lexington, Okla. $71,687 2.Travis Graves, Jay, Okla. 3.Jade Corkill, Fallon, Nev. 4.Martin Lucero, Stephenville, Texas $49,810 $49,178 $40,184 5.Russell Cardoza, Terrebonne, Ore. $36,243 6.Kory Koontz, Sudan, Texas 7.Patrick Smith, Midland, Texas $34,365 $30,495 3 9 1 10 10 24 8.Cody Hintz, Spring Creek, Nev. $29,870 9.Matt Zancanella, Aurora, S.D. $28,634 10.Justin Hendrick, Rosenberg, Texas $28,083 Saddle Bronc Riding 1.Rod Hay, Wildwood, Alberta 2.Wade Sundell, Boxholm, Iowa $77,693 $58,042 3.Shaun Stroh, Dickinson, N.D. $53,759 4.J.J.Elshere, Quinn, S.D. 5.Taos Muncy, Corona, N.M. 6.Jeff Willert, Belvidere, S.D. 7.Cort Scheer, Elsmere, Neb. 8.Jesse Wright, Milford, Utah 9.Heith DeMoss, Heflin, La. 10.Jace Garrett, Alliance, Neb. Tie-down Roping 1.Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas 2.Stran Smith, Childress $80,146 $77,369 3.Shane Hanchey, Sulphur, La. $59,040 4.Ryan Jarrett, Summerville, Ga. $56,157 5.Fred Whitfield, Hockley, Texas 6.Tyson Durfey, Colbert, Wash. $46,407 7.Tuf Cooper, Decatur, Texas 8.Houston Hutto, Del Rio, Texas Steer Roping 1.Bryce Davis, Abilene, Texas $23,238 $55,362 $45,999 9.Clint Robinson, Spanish Fork, Utah $34,450 10.Justin Maass, Giddings, Texas $41,708 $34,231 $47,940 $46,538 $42,066 $40,890 $33,536 $31,550 $31,164 $34,392 $33,856 $29,974 $29,945 7.Micky Downare, Hartsel, Colo. $35,972 8.Joe Gunderson, Agar, S.D. 9.Bobby Mote, Culver, Ore. $36,358 $33,772 $33,746 $35,115 $28,601 2.Rocky Patterson, Pratt, Kan. 3.Rod Hartness, Pawhuska, Okla. $22,063 4.Vin Fisher Jr., Andrews, Texas 5.Scott Snedecor, Uvalde, Texas 6.Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas 7.J.P.Wickett, Sallisaw, Okla. 8.Dan Fisher, Andrews, Texas 9.Landon McClaugherty, Tilden, Texas $23,023 $21,868 $17,694 $14,586 $13,475 $13,074 $12,549 10.J.Paul Williams, Burbank, Okla. $12,163 Bull Riding 1.Shawn Hogg, Odessa, Texas 2.Wesley Silcox, Santaquin, Utah 3.Tyler Smith, Fruita, Colo. 7.Steve Woolsey, Payson, Utah $95,220 $61,291 $60,853 4.Corey Navarre, Weatherford, Okla. $56,835 5.Ardie Maier, Timber Lake, S.D. $51,037 6.Clint Craig, Mena, Ark. $49,455 $48,004 8.Chad Everett Denton, Berry Creek $47,115 9.Marcus Michaelis, Caldwell, Idaho $45,443 10.Luke Haught, Weatherford, Texas $45,394 Barrel racing 1.Sherry Cervi, Marana, Ariz. 2.Brittany Pozzi, Victoria, Texas $96,618 $81,797 3.Tana Poppino, Big Cabin, Okla. $43,028 4.Lindsay Sears, Nanton, Alberta $41,995 5.Christina Richman, Glendora 6.Lisa Lockhart, Oelrichs, S.D. 7.Jill Moody, Letcher, S.D. 8. Nellie Williams,Cottonwood 9.Benette Barrington, Lubbock, Texas 10.Layna Kight, Wills Point, Texas DEALS Major League Baseball American League BOSTON—Added INF-OF Eric Patterson to the roster. Designated LHP Fabio Castro for assignment. Announced RHP Boof Bonser cleared waivers and has chosen to become a free agent. CLEVELAND—Announced RHP Shane Lindsay has cleared waivers and was sent outright to Akron (IL). National League HOUSTON—Activated RHP Bud Norris from the 15-day DL. PITTSBURGH—Agreed to terms with RHP Casey Sadler, RHP Jason Townsend and RHP James Archibald. Tennis WIMBLEDON—Fined Rafael Nadal $2,000 for receiving coaching during his third-round match. National Football League CLEVELAND—Signed DL Clifton Geathers to a multiyear contract. MINNESOTA—Claimed WR Marko Mitchell off waivers from Detroit. Waived C Tommy Hernandez and DE Cedric McKinley. N.Y. GIANTS—Waived KR Chris Davis. ST. LOUIS—Signed WR Mardy Gilyard, LB Josh Hull, CB Jerome Murphy, CB Marquis Johnson, DE Hall Davis, DE Eugene Sims, DE George Selvie and TE Michael Hoomanawanui. Golden Baseball League CALGARY—Signed RHP Mark Michael. National Basketball Association NEW JERSEY—Waived G Keyon Dooling. PHILADELPHIA—Named Joseph Ondrejko vice president of ticket sales. National Hockey League BOSTON—Signed F Mark Recchi to a one- year contract extension. MONTREAL—Signed F Benoit Pouliot to a one-year contract. NASHVILLE—Signed F Andreas Thuresson to a one-year contract. PHOENIX—Re-signed LW Wojtek Wolski to a two-year contract. OLYMPICS U.S.ANTI-DOPING AGENCY—Banned ath- letics coach Raymond Stewart for life for obtaining performance-enhancing drugs for his athletes. College AMERICAN U.—Named Lamar Barrett men’s assistant basketball coach and Matt Wolff director of basketball operations. LOUISVILLE—Named Tim Fuller men’s assistant basketball coach, Mark Lieberman director of basketball operations and David Padgett assistant strength coach.Announced junior men’s basketball G Roburt Sallie has signed a financial aid agreement to play at the school. PROVIDENCE—Named Kevin Gamble coordinator of player development and video operations for men’s basketball. $40,039 $38,846 $37,990 $36,668 $33,144 $31,474 pitches and the bases loaded with no outs in the ninth. Reliever John Taylor fin- ished. LU (Continued from page 1B) The 62nd-ranked Petra Kvitova knocked off No. 3 Caroline Wozniacki, last year’s U.S. Open runner-up, 6-2, 6-0; while No. 82 Tsve- tana Pironkova eliminated No. 11 Marion Bartoli, the 2007 Wimbledon runner- up, 6-4, 6-4. Kvitova and Pironkova each reached her first major quarterfinal. On Tuesday, Pironkova takes on five- time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams, and the 22- year-old Bulgarian is not likely to be too intimidated: She beat the American at the 2006 Australian Open. The older Williams sister picked up a 6-4, 7-6 (5) vic- tory Monday over 92nd- ranked Jarmila Groth, but this was no easy day of work. Williams showed up late at the office, strolling out at 12:09 p.m. for their scheduled noontime match, saying later she expected to be escorted to remote Court 2. ‘‘I was waiting on some- one to get me. No one came. So eventually I just came out,’’ said Williams, who twice broke when Groth served for the second set. ‘‘I saw everyone else leave. I thought, ’OK, time to go.’’’ It was a tight match, but Groth is far less experienced in these matters than Williams, who advanced to the 31st Grand Slam quar- terfinal of her career — 31 more than Groth. At 5-all in the tiebreaker, Groth dou- ble-faulted to hand over a match point, then dumped a forehand into the net. In the other quarterfinals, Clijsters faces No. 21 Vera Zvonareva, who advanced when No. 4 Jelena Jankovic quit because of a back injury; Kvitova plays 80th- ranked qualifier Kaia Kanepi; and Serena Williams meets No. 9 Li Na. The men’s quarterfinal matchups Wednesday will be top-seeded Federer vs. No. 12 Tomas Berdych; No. 2 Nadal vs. No. 6 Robin Soderling in a rematch of this month’s French Open final; No. 3 Djokovic vs. Lu; and No. 4 Murray vs. No. 10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Nadal, the 2008 champi- on who was forced to five sets the previous two rounds, breezed past Paul- Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-2, 6-2, showing no sign of being hampered by his bother- some right knee. Soderling edged No. 9 David Ferrer 6- 2, 5-7, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 to make the Wimbledon quarterfi- nals for the first time. Lu is the only unseeded man left. Indeed, when Djokovic met with reporters after his victory — but while Roddick-Lu was still in progress — he was asked to size up a meeting against the American. Who could have expect- ed Lu to win? He didn’t even earn a single break point against Roddick through the first three sets, yet led by virtue of being more solid in the match’s first two tiebreakers. ‘‘Through three sets I was playing horrendously, I mean really, really badly,’’ Roddick said. ‘‘I was trying to think of how to put balls in the court. I think the fifth set was probably the best set that I played ... but when you dig yourself a hole, it’s tough to get out.’’ By the end, Roddick had won more total points, 199- 196. But Lu served much better than he had in their past matches, winning 101 of 124 points in his service games and saving 7 of 8 break points, including 3 of 3 in the final set.