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2B Daily News – Thursday, May 16, 2013 MLB PREAKNESS Orb draws rail as 1-1 favorite AP photo Texas Rangers' Elvis Andrus, right, slides beneath the tag of Oakland Athletics third baseman Josh Donaldson (20) to safely steal third base during the fifth inning of a baseball game Wednesday. A's drop series to Rangers OAKLAND (AP) — When everything is rolling for the Oakland Athletics, Brandon Moss' line drive with two runners on in the sixth falls perfectly in the gap for a key hit. On Wednesday, Nelson Cruz ran down the ball and snagged it for a spectacular diving catch. The reigning AL West champion A's are in another familiar first-half funk after dropping the series finale to the firstplace Texas Rangers 6-2, Oakland's eighth loss in 10 games. ''We're not playing well right now and we have to power through this, win some games and get on a roll,'' manager Bob Melvin said. His A's (20-22) fell two games below .500 for the first time since the second day of the season. Cruz hit a three-run homer in the Rangers' four-run fifth, but he counted his catch to end the sixth with runners on first and second as his highlight of the day. ''I had four or five steps before I got to the ball, I thought I had a chance before I dived,'' Cruz said. ''I think the catch in that situation was nice.'' Melvin, too. ''It's huge,'' Melvin said. ''If the ball gets down, it's two runs and it's a different game. If there was one particular play that had a big effect on the game, it was that one.'' On the heels of a tough 3-7 road trip through New York, Cleveland and Seattle, the A's won the series opener with Texas 5-1 on Monday night, then lost in 10 innings Tuesday. Alexi Ogando (4-2) didn't allow a hit until Eric Sogard's leadoff double in the sixth. The right-hander won his second straight decision and earned only his second victory in seven outings since consecutive wins starting the season. It was Ogando's first career win against Oakland. Cruz greeted reliever Jesse Chavez in the fifth with a firstpitch drive to left for his 10th homer. His defense helped secure Texas' latest impressive win. ''Cruz made an awesome catch,'' said Oakland catcher John Jaso, who left after being hit by a pitch on the right shin in the fourth. ''That's the break of the game right there. It's a totally different game if he doesn't make that catch.'' Lance Berkman hit a two-run single and Adrian Beltre added an RBI single a day after hitting a 10th-inning home run. Elvis Andrus stole his ninth and 10th bases as the Rangers won their first series in Oakland since Sept. 20-22, 2011. Derek Norris hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth for Oakland's first run. Coco Crisp, fresh off the disabled list, added one of his own in the seventh. Last Oct. 3, Ogando entered in relief of the Rangers' 125 loss in Game No. 162 and was tagged for four runs in the eighth inning as the A's rallied to grab the AL West crown away from the Rangers. Now, with the AL West-leading Rangers on a nice roll in mid-May, Ogando's first road win in his last six outings gave Texas some momentum heading home for a key four-game series with the Tigers starting Thursday. The right-hander allowed two runs on four hits in six innings in his majors-leading seventh road start, his second ever against the A's and first in the Coliseum. The Rangers wrapped up a 6-3 trip, and these clubs meet again for three games beginning Monday in Arlington. ''We wanted to come here and play good baseball and we're fortunate we did,'' manager Ron Washington said. The A's loaded the bases with one out against Rangers reliever Michael Kirkman in the seventh, but got only Crisp's sacrifice fly. Oakland starter Dan Straily (1-2) had his problems, too. He plunked Ian Kinsler and Andrus back to back to load the bases with two outs in the third, then Berkman's single up the middle gave the Rangers the lead. Straily avoided further damage in the fourth. After consecutive one-out walks to Mitch Moreland and David Murphy, and a wild pitch that advanced them both, Straily got a pair of flyball outs to escape unscathed. He walked four and struck out two in 4 1-3 innings of his second straight losing start and fourth consecutive winless outing. ''I was missing spots. At least I missed down and not over the plate,'' Straily said. ''It's not being consistent whatsoever. That's what hurts the team and hurts me. I have to pitch how I am capable of pitching.'' HISTORY when the franchise went on to win its only NBA title. Despite all the doubt, Golden State has overcome every obstacle it has faced this season — from forward Brandon Rush's season-ending left knee injury in the home opener to center Andrew Bogut's sore left ankle throughout the year to All-Star forward David Lee's hip injury in the first round against Denver. ''We are our habits and we have a tight-knit group that is able to make adjustments, own it when they don't play well and bounce back,'' Jackson said. ''I have no doubt that will take place again.'' The Spurs are getting production from others besides Parker and Duncan, and that might be the biggest turnaround in a series that has been full of them. The length of Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green has bothered Curry and Thompson. Duncan and Tiago Splitter have put Bogut in foul trouble in two straight games, and San Antonio's team defense has displayed the ''maniacal'' effort that Popovich has preached in leading the franchise to four NBA titles. ''That's how it's supposed to be,'' said Spurs guard Manu Ginobili, who is starting to find success as a facilitator with his shot not falling. ''We are not a team that's going to have somebody scoring 40 every game that we can rely on. We need everybody to contribute because we are not the most talented team in the league, so we need a contribution from everybody.'' Standing in the way of a second straight Western Conference finals appearance for San Antonio is a gritty Golden State team that has nothing to lose. Jackson is relying on a phrase he has repeated since the playoffs started: few people expected the Warriors to be a serious contender in the preseason, so there's no pressure on his players, who echoed those sentiments. For a franchise that has made the playoffs just twice since 1994, the Warriors are relishing the opportunity to push the conference semifinals to a decisive Game 7, which would be in San Antonio on Sunday. ''It's almost like an NCAA tournament game,'' Landry said. ''We just have to go out there and never take any possessions off. After the game, we shouldn't have anything left. We shouldn't even be able to walk to our cars. Everything should be left out on the floor.'' $625 million offer from the Seattle group and that the competing Sacramento group had matched the original offer of $525 million for the Kings. ''It's my expectation that we'll be able to make a deal with the Maloofs and the (Vivek) Ranadive group to transfer title of the team in Sacramento. It's not a certainty but we're going to work for that result,'' Stern said. It's the second time since 2011 that the Maloof brothers have made plans that would have ended in relocation for the Kings. The first target was Anaheim, Calif., but Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, a former AllStar guard, convinced the NBA to give the city another chance to finance a new arena. Johnson delivered on a promise for a plan for a new downtown arena with help from Stern, but the Maloofs backed out, saying it didn't make financial sense. The Maloofs had another surprise when they announced a deal with Hansen's group, which includes Ballmer and members of the Nordstrom department store family. Johnson fought back again, this time lining up an ownership group led by TIBCO software chairman Vivek Ranadive and getting the Sacramento City Council to approve a non-binding financing plan for a $447 million arena with a $258 million public subsidy. The potential Sacramento ownership group also includes 24 Hour Fitness founder Mark Mastrov, former Facebook senior executive Chris Kelly and the Jacobs family that owns communications giant Qualcomm. Seattle has been without an NBA franchise since the SuperSonics moved. Led by star Kevin Durant, the Thunder have made the playoffs four straight seasons, reached the Western Conference finals in 2011 and lost to Miami in last year's NBA finals. (Continued from page 1B) We've got a lot of fight left. This isn't the end,'' Warriors forward Carl Landry said. ''Actually, we're excited about having the opportunity to play in a Game 6. Everybody in that locker room is excited and ready.'' The odds are not in Golden State's favor. Teams that have won Game 5 of a best-of-seven series that was tied have gone on to win the series 88 out of 99 times. However, those teams are 50-49 in Game 6. The Spurs have won 11 of 12 best-of-seven series when leading 3-2. The last time the Warriors came back from a 3-2 deficit was against the Chicago Bulls in the 1975 Western Conference finals, VOTE (Continued from page 1B) tion fee, nearly four times what Clay Bennett paid to move the Sonics. Hansen's group also guaranteed owners that the franchise would pay into the league's revenue-sharing system in Seattle and not collect money as it has in Sacramento. They were aggressive and bold public statements that had been lacking from the Seattle group through much of the process while Sacramento openly made its case in the public eye. As a backup, the Seattle group negotiated a plan to buy a minority stake in the Kings with the Maloofs retaining majority ownership and keeping the team in Sacramento. Stern said the Board of Governors considered the The NBA's relocation committee, coincidentally headed by Bennett, voted unanimously last month to reject the bid to move the Kings. In a letter sent to the relocation and finance committees during its April 17 meeting, the Maloofs said they preferred to sell to the Seattle group and expressed discontent with Sacramento's latest bid, saying it falls ''significantly short.'' Stern has said the offers are in ''the same ballpark,'' and has reiterated his longheld stance that expansion is unlikely right now. BALTIMORE (AP) — The Preakness draw was over, and trainer Shug McGaughey listed a variety of reasons why he was OK with having Kentucky Derby winner Orb starting Saturday's race from the rail. Then someone asked him, ''If you had your choice, where would you want to be?'' Without hesitation, McGaughey responded, ''The outside.'' Despite getting the inside post in Wednesday's draw, Orb was made an even-money favorite to win the Preakness and keep alive his bid to become horse racing's first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978. ''I saw it bounced around in the papers that we would be 4-5,'' McGaughey said. ''I am a little surprised that with him being even money, with the next shot was 5-1. That's a pretty good spread. We'll see what the public does. Like I always say, I wish every horse I run would be the favorite.'' The brown colt is looking for his sixth straight victory as part of the smallest Preakness field since 2007. Govenor Charlie, trained by Bob Baffert, added his name to the list Wednesday for the 1 3/16th-mile race. Starting from the inside won't help, but McGaughey reasoned it's a lot better than getting the No. 1 post at Churchill Downs for the Derby. ''It's not nearly the problem it would be in the Derby,'' he said. ''The Derby is kind of catty-cornered. You got to shove your way out of there or you get shut off down in there. It's pretty straightforward here. There are only nine horses. There's not going to be that kind of jockeying into the first turn. We'll just hold our position and see how the race plays out.'' Still, the last horse to win the Preakness from the inside post was Tabasco Cat in 1994. That was the lone winner from the rail in the last 52 runnings of the race. Starting from the rail is a disadvantage because, if a horse does not get out in front from that spot, it can easily get pushed to the back of the field by the other competitors. ''He'll get a clean break and he'll be able to sit where he wants to sit,'' McGaughey said. ''If he's good enough he'll be able to make that run, and hopefully he gets there.'' Mylute, the second favorite at 5-1, hopes to take advantage of working out the No. 5 post. ''The draw was great. We're in the middle and we've got Orb and Departing inside of us, which is great because we can watch and see what happens,'' said Todd Quast, general manager of GoldMark Farm, co-owner of Mylute. "Our horse ran the same race Orb did in the Derby but was three to fourth lengths behind him. So this time, maybe if we can stay a little closer to him at the beginning, we can maybe turn the tables on him. No disrespect to him, he's a fantastic horse, but I think our horse is pretty good too.'' Not to mention, Orb is on the rail. ''We need to make up three or four lengths, and that may be one of the factors that helps us,'' Quast said. Orb won the Derby by 2 1/2 lengths, so he remains the horse to beat — even from the rail. ''I don't know that the rail's all that bad,'' said Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who has three horses in the race — Oxbow, Will Take Charge and Titletown Five. ''Orb is still the one to beat.'' The field, from the rail, with odds in parenthesis: Orb, Goldencents (8-1), Titletown Five (30-1), Departing (6-1), Mylute (5-1), Oxbow (15-1), Will Take Charge (12-1), Govenor Charlie (12-1) and Itsmyluckyday (10-1). Lukas was delighted with the post positions drawn by his three entrants. ''I love mine. I thought it was real good,'' he said. ''Oxbow for a change got inside a little bit. He'll be forwardly placed. We shouldn't have any trouble. I'm going to have to come up with a different excuse when we get beat.'' MLB MLB National League West Division San Francisco Arizona Colorado San Diego Los Angeles East Division American League West Division W 23 23 21 18 16 L 17 18 19 21 22 Pct .575 .561 .525 .462 .421 GB — .5 2 4.5 6 W L Pct GB Atlanta 22 18 .550 — Washington 21 18 .538 .5 Philadelphia 19 22 .463 3.5 New York 14 22 .389 6 Miami 11 29 .275 11 Central Division W L Pct GB St. Louis 25 13 .658 — Cincinnati 24 16 .600 2 Pittsburgh 23 17 .575 3 Chicago 17 23 .425 9 Milwaukee 16 22 .421 9 —————————————————— Wednesday's Results San Diego 8, Baltimore 4 Cleveland 10, Philadelphia 4 Arizona 5, Atlanta 3 Pittsburgh 3, Milwaukee 1 Toronto 11, San Francisco 3 Cincinnati 4, Miami 0 Chicago Cubs 6, Colorado 3 N.Y. Mets at St. Louis, late Washington at L.A. Dodgers, late Today's Games N.Y. Mets (Niese 2-4) at St. Louis (Wainwright 5-2), 10:45 a.m. Milwaukee (Burgos 1-1) at Pittsburgh (Liriano 1-0), 4:05 p.m. Cincinnati (Latos 4-0) at Miami (Fernandez 2-2), 4:10 p.m. San Francisco (M.Cain 2-2) at Colorado (Chacin 3-2), 5:40 p.m. Washington (Strasburg 1-5) at San Diego (Volquez 3-3), 7:10 p.m. Friday's Games N.Y. Mets at Chicago Cubs, 11:20 a.m. Cincinnati at Philadelphia, 4:05 p.m. Houston at Pittsburgh, 4:05 p.m. Arizona at Miami, 4:10 p.m. L.A. Dodgers at Atlanta, 4:30 p.m. Milwaukee at St. Louis, 5:15 p.m. San Francisco at Colorado, 5:40 p.m. Washington at San Diego, 7:10 p.m. Texas Oakland Seattle Los Angeles Houston East Division W 26 20 19 15 11 L 14 22 21 24 30 Pct GB .650 — .476 7 .475 7 .385 10.5 .268 15.5 W L Pct GB New York 25 15 .625 — Baltimore 23 17 .575 2 Boston 23 17 .575 2 Tampa Bay 20 19 .513 4.5 Toronto 17 24 .415 8.5 Central Division W L Pct GB Detroit 22 16 .579 — Cleveland 22 17 .564 .5 Kansas City 19 17 .528 2 Minnesota 18 19 .486 3.5 Chicago 17 21 .447 5 —————————————————— Wednesday's Results San Diego 8, Baltimore 4 Cleveland 10, Philadelphia 4 Houston 7, Detroit 5 Chicago White Sox 9, Minnesota 4 Texas 6, Oakland 2 Seattle 12, N.Y. Yankees 2 Toronto 11, San Francisco 3 Boston 9, Tampa Bay 2 Kansas City at L.A. Angels, late Today's games Seattle (Harang 1-4) at N.Y. Yankees (Pettitte 4-2), 4:05 p.m. Boston (Doubront 3-1) at Tampa Bay (Cobb 4-2), 4:10 p.m. Detroit (Verlander 4-3) at Texas (Darvish 6-1), 5:05 p.m. Chicago White Sox (Quintana 2-1) at L.A. Angels (Williams 2-1), 7:05 p.m. Friday's games Houston at Pittsburgh, 4:05 p.m. Seattle at Cleveland, 4:05 p.m. Tampa Bay at Baltimore, 4:05 p.m. Toronto at N.Y. Yankees, 4:05 p.m. Detroit at Texas, 5:05 p.m. Boston at Minnesota, 5:10 p.m. Chicago White Sox at L.A. Angels, 7:05 p.m. Kansas City at Oakland, 7:05 p.m.