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2B Daily News – Thursday, May 30, 2013 Kickham optioned back to Triple-A IOC SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The San Francisco Giants optioned lefthander Mike Kickham back to TripleA Fresno on Wednesday, a day after he made his major league debut against the Oakland Athletics. Kickham pitched 2 1-3 innings Tuesday in a 6-3 loss to the A's in the Bay Bridge Series. San Francisco purchased the contract of right-handed reliever Ramon Ramirez from Fresno and added him to the 25-man roster, and he was available Wednesday night. ''It is what it is, obviously I wish I would have done better,'' Kickham said while packing up his locker. ''I'll learn from it, move on, and when I get back down there I'll share my experience and have some advice for my teammates there in Fresno. It was a great experience, though, and hopefully I'll get back up here soon and help the team win.'' Manager Bruce Bochy said righthander Chad Gaudin is ''likely'' to start Sunday at St. Louis in the spot Kickham filled as the replacement to right-hander Ryan Vogelsong, who broke his pitching hand last week and underwent surgery that is expected to sideline him for two months. While Bochy had said it was hard to use Gaudin in a starting role because of his versatility out of the bullpen, the Giants need him to make a spot start. On Tuesday night in Oakland, he pitched three innings of relief. Having an off day Monday helps Bochy feel more comfortable about using a long reliever to start Sunday. ''A guy like Chad is invaluable for a club,'' Bochy said. ''And for me to have a guy like this who I can use anywhere. Yesterday we needed some innings, and he was the one guy who could do it. He's pitched late in the game and last week helped get big outs in tight ballgames, and now we need a starter. He has experience as a starter. It's pretty nice to have a guy who's versatile like Chad and can do a lot of things for you.'' The Giants have some flexibility with three upcoming off days. They don't need a fifth starter again until mid-June, so Bochy might opt to give some of his struggling starters an extra day off between outings. And, he figures Kickham will return. ''He'll be back up here at some point,'' Bochy said. ''I thought the kid showed great stuff. His first start, he had a lot going on. I like the stuff that he showed, I do. ... He'll get better, he'll learn from that. Without question, he'll be up here at some point probably helping us.'' The reigning World Series champions cleared a spot on the 40-man ros- ter for Ramirez by transferring infielder Tony Abreu to the 60-day disabled list. He is on a rehab assignment with Fresno as he works back from a sprained left knee. He also was slowed by a quadriceps injury this spring after being claimed off waivers from Kansas City in early February before spring training. The 31-year-old Ramirez, a member of the 2010 World Series title team before getting re-signed to a minor league deal in February, made 20 appearances with Fresno, posting a 3.46 ERA with 31 strikeouts. ''He's been here before and helped us in 2010,'' Bochy said. ''He's been throwing the ball well down in Fresno. It's good to see him. I know he's excited about being here. It's nice to have some depth down on your farm club that can come up here, especially a guy like him who has experience pitching late in the ballgame.'' Giants center fielder and leadoff hitter Angel Pagan missed his fourth straight game as he nurses an injured left hamstring, which he hurt Saturday before hitting his game-winning, inside-the-park home run in the 10th inning of a 6-5 win over the Colorado Rockies. Pagan was scheduled to receive a cortisone injection and the hope is still that he will avoid a trip to the disabled list. Belgium rocks US 4-2 in soccer friendly CLEVELAND (AP) — Christian Benteke scored two goals in the second half and Marouane Fellaini had another, leading Belgium to a 4-2 thrashing of the United States on Wednesday night in an international friendly the Americans hoped would get them ready for upcoming World Cup qualifiers. Boasting a strong roster with 10 players from the English Premier League, Belgium broke a 1-1 tie with three goals in the second half. It overpowered a U.S. team that has some work to do on defense before it can even think about making the field for next summer's World Cup in Brazil. Benteke, who plays for Aston Villa, scored in the 56th and 71st minutes for Belgium, ranked 15th in the world and considered a rising European power. Geoff Cameron scored in the 22nd minute and Clint Dempsey pounded in a penalty kick in the 80th minute for the U.S. U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann figured Belgium would provide a stiff chal- lenge for his evolving team, and while the Americans had some nice moments, the Belgians controlled the game from the outset. Belgium took advantage of poor defense to score three of its goals. With the score 1-1 in the 56th minute, a turnover by American midfielder Brad Davis was compounded by defender Omar Gonzalez's failure to clear the ball in front of the net. Gonzalez could have easily booted it over the touch or end line, but instead left the ball for Belgium's Kevin De Bruyne. He centered it to Benteke for an easy tap-in past goalkeeper Brad Guzan, who replaced Tim Howard in the second half. Guzan came up with a nice save in the 64th minute, but seconds later he was fishing the ball from his net again. Fellaini, known as much for his puffy hairdo as his skills, headed his goal into the left corner off a beautiful cross by De Bruyne to make it 3-1. In the 71st minute, Benteke streaked behind defenders DaMarcus Beasley and Matt Besler and chipped in a pass from Steven Defour. The U.S. later cut the deficit in half when referee Jeffery Solis awarded a penalty kick after calling Toby Alderweireld for a questionable hand ball in the box. Earlier, while being outplayed and unable to get off a shot, the U.S. tied it 1-1 in the 22nd minute on Cameron's first international goal. Graham Zusi sent an effective short corner kick across the goal mouth to Dempsey posted on the right side. The U.S. captain alertly headed it back over Belgium's defense to Cameron, who jumped and headed it past keeper Simon Mignolet. Howard was tested a few more times in the first half as Belgium mounted several scoring threats and outshot the Americans 5-1 in the first 45 minutes. The Americans also caught two fortunate breaks in the opening half. In the 26th minute, speedy Belgian forward Romelu Lukaku's goal was waved off by an offside call. However, TV replays appeared to show Lukaku was onside. Also, Beasley, playing in his 100th international game, might have gotten away with a hand ball when he blocked a pass inside the box. A breakdown by the U.S. defense allowed Belgium to take a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute. De Bruyne played a through ball to speedy Lukaku, who got behind Gonzalez. Lukaku got off a quick shot from the left side that was smothered by Howard, who was unable to control the rebound. and Kevin Mirallas, Howard's teammate at Everton, scored on a nice chip into the empty net. The early deficit gave Klinsmann a chance to see how his team would react, and for the most part, the Americans responded in the first half before being outscored 3-1 in the second half.. OPEN got to play their rain-postponed first-round matches — along with 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic and 2012 runner-up Sara Errani, who reached the third round. Former No. 1 and 2009 U.S. Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki, whose boyfriend is golf star Rory McIlroy, lost 7-6 (2), 6-3 to Serbia's Bojana Jovanovski. No seeded men lost Wednesday, and so far only one of the top 16 has, No. 5 Tomas Berdych. Joining No. 2 Federer in the third round were No. 4 David Ferrer, No. 6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, No. 10 Marin Cilic, No. 11 Nicolas Almagro, No. 14 Milos Raonic, No. 15 Gilles Simon, and No. 18 Sam Querrey, an American who was 1-6 in his Roland Garros career before this year and 20 this week. ''I'm really excited. That was my goal coming in. I've never made it third round here,'' said Querrey, who faces Simon next, ''so anything past there is great.'' The man who eliminated Berdych, France's Gael Monfils, followed that up by beating Ernests Gulbis 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-2 — and, much like a tourist, Monfils shot some video by which to remember the occasion. During a changeover, Monfils got permission from the chair umpire to use his phone to film the fans doing the wave. Monfils explained: ''He tell me, 'Sure, you can.' So I say, 'OK, I will tape it, like, quick.'' Later in the day, just as the Court Suzanne Lenglen crowd roared at the sight of Devvarman claiming one game when trailing 5-0 in his third set, the fans at Court Philippe Chatrier got loud when Garcia finally won a game after being down 5-0 in her first set. ''I need to work on my game to pose more problems for her next time I meet her,'' Garcia said. Williams won 32 of 39 service points, and while that's become expected, she also showed tremendous touch with a perfect drop shot that barely cleared the net and nearly nestled right there in the clay in the second set's second game. Williams raised her left fist and looked up in the stands, where her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, shook his right fist. ''I was, like, 'Yeah!' I only hit drop shots in practice,'' she said. ''I never hit them in a match. ... It's not a go-to shot.'' Garcia is ranked only 114th but much is expected of her. Against Maria Sharapova in the 2011 French Open, she won the first set and led 4-1 in the second before collapsing completely, losing the next 11 games and the match. Her perfor- mance was good enough to inspire Andy Murray to write on Twitter that Garcia ''is going to be No. 1 in the world one day.'' For now, it's Williams who holds that distinction in the rankings, and she certainly looks like someone intent on keeping it that way. ''It's important for me to win easily,'' said the 15-time major champion, who won the French Open in 2002. ''It's also important for me to play well. If I play well, it will bode well for me at Roland Garros.'' Speaking again in French to the crowd during a postmatch interview, Williams was asked what she plans to work on in practice. ''I'd like to improve everything. My French, too,'' she said. Williams said she studied French ''a long time ago'' so she could use the language while traveling in Africa — and ''I decided that I wanted to win the French Open and speak French for my acceptance speech.'' A reporter wanted to know: That remains the plan? ''Still my plan,'' Williams replied. (Continued from page 1B) Then again, Benneteau might not quite be the same guy who took the first two sets against Federer before losing in five on the grass of the All England Club nearly a year ago. Or the one who has beaten Federer twice in six meetings, including 6-3, 7-5 in February on an indoor hard court at Rotterdam, Netherlands. The 30th-seeded Benneteau dealt with pain in his thigh Wednesday during a topsy-turvy 7-6 (9), 7-5, 5-7, 0-6, 6-4 win against Tobias Kamke of Germany. Ahead by two sets and at 5-all in the third, Benneteau dropped 10 games in a row before righting himself. Even putting that aside, Benneteau explained, ''Obviously it's all pretty tricky, (playing) Federer. He breezed through the first two rounds. He plays very well. ... You know you're going to have to really ramp up a gear.'' Same must be said when facing another past French Open champion, Serena Williams, who has been challenged about as much as Federer has. Williams extended her career-high winning streak to 26 matches by defeating French wild-card entry Caroline Garcia 6-1, 6-2 Wednesday. A year after the only first-round Grand Slam exit of her career came in Paris, the American has lost four games in two matches. Other women's winners included two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka and 2011 Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova — who both finally NHL PLAYOFFS Conference Semifinals Wednesday's result Chicago 2, Detroit 1, OT Chicago wins series 4-3 Conference Finals Saturday's games Los Angeles at Chicago, 2 p.m. Boston at Pittsburgh, 5 p.m. NBA PLAYOFFS Conference Finals Today's game Indiana at Miami, 5:30 p.m. Series tied 2-2 Saturday's game Miami at Indiana, 5:30 p.m. Monday's game Indiana at Miami, 5:30 p.m. If needed Other Series San Antonio defeated Memphis 4-0 WNBA WESTERN CONFERENCE Sparks Minnesota Phoenix San Antonio Seattle Tulsa W 1 0 0 0 0 0 L 0 0 1 1 1 2 Pct GB 1.000 — .000 .5 .000 1 .000 1 .000 1 .000 1.5 EASTERN CONFERENCE W L Pct GB Atlanta 1 0 1.000 — Chicago 1 0 1.000 — Connecticut 1 0 1.000 — Indiana 1 0 1.000 — Washington 1 0 1.000 — New York 0 1 .000 1 —————————————————— Friday's games Atlanta at Indiana, 4 p.m. Tulsa at New York, 4:30 p.m. Connecticut at Chicago, 5:30 p.m. (Continued from page 1B) ourselves for Buenos Aires with additional arguments. These will not be sufficient in Buenos Aires.'' Asked whether the result showed the IOC's earlier decision was a mistake, Lalovic said: ''I can't say that. Simply, I don't judge them. They are in the position to judge us.'' Wednesday's announcement came after the eight sports federations each made 30-minute, closed-door presentations to the IOC board. The board voted by secret ballot over several rounds, with a majority required for making the short list and low vote-getters eliminated. Wrestling showed its newfound strength by winning on the first round with eight of the 14 votes. It took baseball-softball and squash several votes before they secured enough votes for selection. ''The number of this vote today doesn't have any influence on the voting in the session,'' Lalovic said. ''It doesn't mean we have any advantage in Buenos Aires. In Buenos Aires, we'll have the same starting position.'' Baseball-softball beat karate 9-5 in a head-to-head vote to win its spot on the list. Squash got through in the final round, getting eight votes to defeat wushu with four and sport climbing with two. ''It was never going to be an easy decision but I feel my colleagues on the board made a good decision in selecting baseball-softball, squash and wrestling to be put forward in Buenos Aires,'' IOC President Jacques Rogge said in a statement. ''I wish the three shortlisted sports the best of luck in the run-up to the vote in September and would like to thank the other sports for their hard work and dedication.'' The process has created some embarrassment for the International Olympic Committee, which was forced to row back from its previous ruling. The addition of wrestling to the mix has not gone over well with all the applicant sports and some IOC members. If wrestling wins the vote in September, that will defeat the IOC's original goal of bringing in a new sport in 2020. Men's baseball and women's softball, which have been off the program since the 2008 Beijing Games, merged into a single federation to improve their chances of getting back in. The two were cut by the IOC in 2005, the first sports dropped since polo in 1936, and failed several times to win reinstatement as individual sports. ''We're just very happy that we made that shortlist and now I guess we're in the seventh inning and we've got to go on to the ninth,'' said Don Porter, the American co-president of the World Baseball Softball Confederation. ''We've got a lot of young girls and boys out there who want to get their Olympic dreams back. ''I think that's what all of us feel, that it vindicated (us) in one sense, at least to give MLS WESTERN CONFERENCE FC Dallas Portland Salt Lake Galaxy Colorado Seattle QUAKES Vancouver Chivas USA W 8 5 6 6 5 4 3 3 3 L 2 1 5 4 4 4 5 4 7 T 3 7 3 2 4 3 6 4 2 Pts 27 22 21 20 19 15 15 13 11 GF 21 22 18 21 13 14 13 14 13 GA 15 14 15 10 10 13 20 16 24 EASTERN CONFERENCE New York Montreal Kansas City Houston Philadelphia Columbus N. England Chicago Toronto FC D.C. W 7 7 6 6 5 4 4 2 1 1 L 4 2 4 4 5 4 4 7 7 9 T 4 2 4 3 3 4 4 2 4 2 Pts 25 23 22 21 18 16 16 8 7 5 GF 22 20 17 18 18 15 10 7 11 6 GA 17 14 11 13 23 12 9 17 18 22 NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie. —————————————————— Saturday's games San Jose at Real Salt Lake, 6:30 p.m. Philadelphia at Toronto FC, 3 p.m. Vancouver at New York, 4 p.m. Houston at Columbus, 4:30 p.m. Montreal at Kansas City, 5:30 p.m. FC Dallas at Colorado, 6 p.m. Seattle FC at Chivas USA, 7:30 p.m. Sunday's games Los Angeles at New England, 1:30 p.m. D.C. United at Chicago, 2 p.m. us another chance to try to do that.'' Cuba's Antonio Castro, a son of Fidel Castro and a vice president of the WBSC, was part of the delegation. The federation proposes separate baseball and softball tournaments of eight teams each, played as back-to-back six-day tournaments at a single venue. The lack of major league players has always been a disadvantage to baseball's Olympic bid. MLB commissioner Bud Selig has said the season won't be stopped to free players for the Olympics, but the federation is working to get some MLB players committed to coming. Squash is bidding for Olympic inclusion for a third time and tennis star Roger Federer is one of its backers. Squash, which would join tennis and badminton as racket sports in the games, would hold singles tournaments featuring 32 male and 32 female players. Matches would be played in two glass courts. ''I said to the executive board that the one big regret in my career is that I have never had the chance to compete in the Olympic Games, but I would happily trade all my seven world titles for the chance of Olympic gold,'' women's squash No. 1 Nicol David of Malaysia said. World Squash President N. Ramachandran said he wasn't worried by the fact it took many rounds of voting before his sport advanced to the final. ''As long as you're on the short list, what does it matter?'' he said. ''That's how I look at it. I think our chances are better than ever before. And who knows what will happen between now and September? Anything can happen.'' MLB American League West Division W 32 30 23 22 15 L 20 23 29 30 37 Pct .615 .566 .442 .423 .288 GB — 2.5 9 10 17 W Boston 32 New York 30 Baltimore 29 Tampa Bay 28 Toronto 23 Central Division W Detroit 29 Cleveland 28 Chicago 24 Minnesota 22 Kansas City 21 L 22 22 24 24 30 Pct .593 .577 .547 .538 .434 GB — 1 2.5 3 8.5 L 22 24 26 28 29 Pct .569 .538 .480 .440 .420 GB — 1.5 4.5 6.5 7.5 Texas A's Angels Seattle Houston East Division National League West Division W 30 28 28 23 22 L 22 24 24 28 28 Pct .577 .538 .538 .451 .440 GB — 2 2 6.5 7 W Atlanta 31 Washington 27 Philadelphia 26 New York 21 Miami 13 Central Division W St. Louis 35 Cincinnati 33 Pittsburgh 33 Chicago 21 Milwaukee 19 L 21 26 27 29 40 Pct .596 .509 .491 .420 .245 GB — 4.5 5.5 9 18.5 L 17 20 20 30 32 Pct GB .673 — .623 2.5 .623 2.5 .412 13.5 .373 15.5 Arizona Colorado GIANTS Padres Dodgers East Division —————————————————— Monday's results Oakland at San Francisco, late Baltimore 9, Washington 6 Chicago Cubs 9, Chicago White Sox 3 Cleveland 5, Cincinnati 2 Minnesota 4, Milwaukee 1 N.Y. Mets 9, N.Y. Yankees 4 Philadelphia 4, Boston 3 Pittsburgh 5, Detroit 3 St. Louis 5, Kansas City 3 Tampa Bay 3, Miami 1 Toronto 3, Atlanta 0 L.A. Dodgers at L.A. Angels, late Houston at Colorado, late Seattle at San Diego, late Arizona at Texas, ppd., rain Today's games Oakland (Griffin 5-3) at San Francisco (Zito 3-3), 12:45 p.m. Arizona (Miley 3-4) at Texas (D.Holland 4-2), 11:05 a.m. Chicago White Sox (Peavy 6-2) at Chicago Cubs (Wood 4-3), 11:20 a.m. Seattle (F.Hernandez 5-4) at San Diego (Cashner 4-2), 12:40 p.m. Boston (Lester 6-1) at Philadelphia (Pettibone 3-0), 4:05 p.m. Cincinnati (H.Bailey 3-3) at Cleveland (Kazmir 2-2), 4:05 p.m. Detroit (Fister 5-2) at Pittsburgh (Locke 5-1), 4:05 p.m. N.Y. Mets (Gee 2-6) at N.Y. Yankees (Nuno 1-1), 4:05 p.m. Washington (Haren 4-5) at Baltimore (F.Garcia 1-2), 4:05 p.m. Tampa Bay (M.Moore 8-0) at Miami (Nolasco 3-5), 4:10 p.m. Toronto (Dickey 4-6) at Atlanta (Minor 6-2), 4:10 p.m. Milwaukee (Lohse 1-5) at Minnesota (Walters 1-0), 5:10 p.m. Kansas City (Guthrie 5-3) at St. Louis (Wacha 0-0), 5:15 p.m. Houston (Harrell 3-6) at Colorado (Nicasio 4-1), 5:40 p.m. L.A. Dodgers (Lilly 0-1) at L.A. Angels (Vargas 4-3), 7:05 p.m. Friday's games San Francisco at St. Louis, 5:15 p.m. Chicago White Sox at Oakland, 7:05 p.m. Arizona at Chicago Cubs, 11:20 a.m. Boston at N.Y. Yankees, 4:05 p.m. Cincinnati at Pittsburgh, 4:05 p.m. Detroit at Baltimore, 4:05 p.m. Milwaukee at Philadelphia, 4:05 p.m. Tampa Bay at Cleveland, 4:05 p.m. N.Y. Mets at Miami, 4:10 p.m. Washington at Atlanta, 4:30 p.m. Kansas City at Texas, 5:05 p.m. Seattle at Minnesota, 5:10 p.m. L.A. Dodgers at Colorado, 5:40 p.m. Houston at L.A. Angels, 7:05 p.m. Toronto at San Diego, 7:10 p.m.