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2B – Daily News – Friday, July 16, 2010 Once powerful A’s struggle to go deep Giants sign Willis OAKLAND (AP) — From the days of Reggie Jackson in the 1970s to the Bash Brothers of the 1980s to the slugging beer-league style teams that were so successful a decade ago, power has often been a big component of the Oak- land Athletics’ success. It’s that long ball power that has been the biggest missing ingredi- ent in a first half of the season that had moments of perfection that were too infrequent for any sus- tained success. ‘‘We can’t be waiting around for guys to hit home runs to win games,’’ slugger Jack Cust said. ‘‘Everybody hits more home runs than us.’’ That’s pretty much been the case so far this season. The A’s come out of the All-Star break ties with Seattle and Houston for the fewest home runs in all of baseball with 57. The A’s are on pace for 104 home runs this season — the fewest in a full season for the fran- chise since 1978. In fact, the A’s are in danger of failing to reach 100 home runs for the first time since the franchise’s inaugural sea- son in Oakland in 1968. Jackson had 37 home runs at the All-Star break the following sea- son and the A’s have been one of the game’s best power-hitting teams ever since. Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire teamed up in the late 1980s to give Oakland a feared offensive attack and players like Jason Giambi, Miguel Tejada, Frank Thomas, Matt Stairs and Nick Swisher continued the trend in recent years. But this year, catcher Kurt Suzuki is the only player in double digits in home runs with 10. The team went 23 games without homering more than once in a con- test, the second longest such streak for the franchise in 21 years. Oakland’s usual No. 3 hitter Ryan Sweeney has gone 54 games OPEN (Continued from page 1B) a 62. I don’t think I have ever known St. Andrews as calm. Hopefully, we might get a break with the weather tomorrow morning, but you never know.’’ Retief Goosen turned on his television just before 10 a.m. and saw Daly at 7- under par through 11 holes. The wind already was whip- ping flags when he teed off, and the two-time U.S. Open champion equated his 69 to a 66 had he played in the morning. He bore no grudges. Such is the fickle nature of links golf. ‘‘You’ve still got to make a score,’’ Goosen said. ‘‘It doesn’t matter how easy it is.’’ without going deep. First baseman Daric Barton, who plays a tradi- tional power position, snapped a 34-game homerless streak last weekend with his fifth home run. ‘‘There’s more home runs in there from our guys,’’ manager Bob Geren said. ‘‘We don’t have a lot of 30 home run guys. But there’s definitely a core group that should hit in double digits or maybe push the 20 mark. The sec- ond half is usually more conducive to homers with the weather and things like that. Especially here in our park it travels a little better in the summer.’’ Cust, the team’s biggest power threat, snapped a 22-game homer- less streak last Friday and added another deep ball Sunday in a sign that maybe he has finally found his stroke after starting the season in the minors. The A’s hit five home runs in the final three-game series of the first half, taking two of three against the division rival Angels. That helped Oakland improve to 43-46 at the break and move with- in 7 1/2 games of division-leading Texas. ‘‘It was up and down,’’ Cust said of the first half. ‘‘We had some good moments and some struggles but I think overall we’re in a good position. We get to play teams ahead of us head-to-head a bunch in the second half. The opportunity’s going to be there so hopefully we can play some base- ball like we’ve played the last cou- ple days and make it tough on some of these teams.’’ Oakland’s pitching has been the key so far, led by All-Stars Trevor Cahill and Andrew Bailey. Cahill, who turned 22 in spring training, is 9-3 with a 2.94 ERA. Bailey fol- lowed up his Rookie of the Year campaign with 18 saves and a 1.70 ERA in the first half. A’s starters are fourth in the league with a 3.74 ERA despite Phil Mickelson didn’t make a birdie in the after- noon until making an 8-foot putt on the last hole for a 73, and walking off the course without speaking to reporters. McIlroy’s amazing run began with a drive that he hit onto the green at the 352- yard ninth hole to about 15 feet below the hole. He knocked that in for birdie and was on his way. The freckled-face kid followed with a sand wedge to 6 feet on the 10th for birdie, a 7- iron to 8 feet for birdie on the 11th, and two putts from 50 feet on the short 12th hole. It was so low — and so there for the taking — that even after a record-tying round, he thought about the one that got away. McIlroy was 8 under when he flew his approach getting only six starts from Brett Anderson and five from Justin Duchscherer because of injuries. Duchscherer is out for the year but Anderson is expected to return as early as this month to provide a big boost to the rotation. Oakland also expects to get Dallas Braden back from the dis- abled list next week. Braden pro- vided the first half highlight for the team with his perfect game against Tampa Bay on May 9, but has gone winless in eight starts since then. ‘‘Our starting pitching has been pretty good even with their absence,’’ Geren said. ‘‘I think we’re going to get some players back that are going to help us. And we play those teams ahead of us in the second half as well.’’ The A’s are also looking for a boost from outfielder Conor Jack- son, who played only 14 games after being acquired from Arizona last month before going on the DL with a hamstring injury. Oakland also was without out- fielder Coco Crisp for 70 games, Suzuki for three weeks and second baseman Mark Ellis for a month because of injuries in the first half. ‘‘In the second half, hopefully we’ll be able to keep everybody together and everybody healthy,’’ Crisp said. ‘‘We stand a good chance of making a push to the end and we’ll see what happens.’’ One player who might not make it to the finish with Oakland is Ben Sheets, who signed a $10 million, one-year deal as a free agent in the offseason. Sheets is just 4-8 but put together back-to-back solid starts against the Yankees and Angels before the break. That could be enough to get a contender to make a play for him before the trade deadline. ‘‘I’m just trying to go out there and pitch the best I can,’’ Sheets said. Everything else takes care of itself.’’ dangerously close over the Road Hole bunker on the 17th, leaving him a 5-foot birdie putt. Make that, and he goes to the 357-yard 18th with a shot at 62. He missed. ‘‘It sort of went through my mind on 17 that 62 would have been the lowest round in a major,’’ McIlroy said. ‘‘That’s probably why I missed the putt.’’ He already shot a 62 ear- lier this year on a course that was far tougher than St. Andrews on Thursday — Quail Hollow for his first victory in America. It was another example why so many have predicted star- dom for him. He also shot a 61 at Royal Portrush when he was 16. This was different. ‘‘I think it probably is the most special just because it’s at St. Andrews,’’ McIlroy said. ‘‘And it’s the Open Championship.’’ Oosthuizen looked as though he might have a chance to join McIlroy. He also was at 8 under playing the 17th until making a bogey, then failing to pick up a stroke on the last hole and settling for a 65. Not often does someone open with a 65 in a major and trail by two shots. This was not a typical opening round in a major. ‘‘It just goes to show you that the golf course could have been had,’’ Woods said. ‘‘When I was playing either 17 or 18, to be in the top 10 you had to be 5 under. You don’t see that at too many majors.’’ For Woods, it was the first time in eight rounds in an Open at St. Andrews — dating to July 20, 2000 — that he was not atop the Scoreboard MLB West Division Texas American League WL Pct GB Angels 47 44 .516 5 A’s 51 38 .573 — 43 46 .483 8 Seattle 35 53 .398 15.5 East Division WL Pct GB New York 56 32 .636 — Tampa Bay 54 34 .614 2 Boston 51 38 .573 5.5 Toronto 44 45 .494 12.5 Baltimore 29 59 .330 27 Central Division Chicago 50 38 .568 — Detroit WL Pct GB 48 38 .558 1 Minnesota 46 43 .517 4.5 Kansas City 39 49 .443 11 Cleveland 34 54 .386 16 ——— Thursday’s results Texas 7, Boston 2 Chicago 8, Minnesota 7 Seattle at Los Angeles, late Today’s games Oakland (G.Gonzalez 7-6) at Kansas City (Greinke 5-8),5:10 p.m.,CSNC Detroit (Scherzer 6-6) at Cleveland (Westbrook 5-5), 4:05 p.m. Tampa Bay (J.Shields 7-9) at New York (Sabathia 12-3), 4:05 p.m., MLBN Toronto (R.Romero 6-6) at Baltimore (Bergesen 3-6), 4:05 p.m. Texas (C.Lewis 8-5) at Boston (Doubront 1-1), 4:10 p.m. Chicago (Floyd 5-7) at Minnesota (Liriano 6-7), 5:10 p.m. Seattle (F.Hernandez 7-5) at Los Angeles (Jer.Weaver 8-5), 7:05 p.m. West Division National League WL Pct GB San Diego 51 37 .580 — Colorado 49 39 .557 2 Dodgers 49 40 .551 2.5 GIANTS 47 41 .534 4 Arizona 34 55 .382 17.5 East Division WL Pct GB Atlanta 53 36 .596 — New York 48 40 .545 4.5 Philadelphia 47 41 .534 5.5 Florida 42 46 .477 10.5 Washington 39 50 .438 14 Central Division WL Pct GB Cincinnati 49 41 .544 — St. Louis 48 41 .539 .5 Chicago 40 50 .444 9 Milwaukee 40 50 .444 9 Houston 36 53 .404 12.5 Pittsburgh 30 58 .341 18 ——— Thursday’s results New York at San Francisco, late Atlanta 2, Milwaukee 1 Chicago 12, Philadelphia 6 St. Louis 7, Los Angeles 1 Today’s games New York (Niese 6-3) at San Francisco (Zito 7-4),7:15 p.m.,MNT-21 Philadelphia (Blanton 3-5) at Chicago (Lilly 3-8), 11:20 a.m. Houston (Myers 6-6) at Pittsburgh (Duke 3-8), 4:05 p.m. Colorado (Hammel 7-3) at Cincinnati (Undecided), 4:10 p.m. Washington (Strasburg 3-2) at Florida (Nolasco 9-6), 4:10 p.m. Milwaukee (Ra.Wolf 6-8) at Atlanta (Hanson 8-5), 4:35 p.m. Los Angeles (Billingsley 7-4) at St. Louis (Undecided), 5:15 p.m. Arizona (Haren 7-7) at San Diego (Garland 8-6), 7:05 p.m. North Division GOLDEN Golden League WL Pct. GB OUTLAWS 33 12 .733 — Edmonton 27 16 .628 5 Calgary 23 21 .523 9.5 Victoria 21 23 .477 11.5 St. George 16 29 .356 17 South Division Yuma Maui WL Pct. GB 27 19 .587 — 25 18 .581 .5 Orange Co. 21 22 .488 4.5 Tucson 21 25 .457 6 Tijuana 7 36 .163 18.5 ——— Wednesday’s result NOR 9, GBL 3 Thursday’s results Victoria at Chico, late St. George at Orange County, late Tijuana at Calgary, late Tucson at Maui, late Yuma at Edmonton, late Today’s games Victoria at Chico, 7:08 p.m. Yuma at Edmonton, 6 p.m. St. George at Orange County, 6:05 p.m. Tijuana at Calgary, 6:05 p.m. Tucson at Maui, 9:35 p.m. WNBA EASTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB Atlanta 14 6 .700 — Washington 12 6 .667 1 Indiana 11 7 .611 2 Connecticut 11 8 .579 2.5 New York 9 9 .500 4 Chicago 9 11 .450 5 WESTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB Seattle 17 2 .895 — Minnesota 7 11 .389 9.5 Phoenix 7 12 .368 10 San Antonio 6 11 .353 10 Los Angeles 5 13 .278 11.5 Tulsa 3 15 .167 13.5 ——— Thursday’s result New York 75, Washington 67 Today’s games Atlanta at Indiana, 4 p.m. Tulsa at San Antonio, 5 p.m. Los Angeles at Chicago, 5:30 p.m. GOLF The Open Championship At St. Andrews (Old Course) St. Andrews, Scotland Purse: $7.3 million Yardage: 7,305;Par: 72 (33-36) (a-amateur) Friday, Second Round, 2 a.m., ESPN First Round Leaders Rory McIlroy Louis Oosthuizen 31-34 — 65 -7 John Daly Andrew Coltart 33-33 — 66 -6 Steven Tiley Bradley Dredge 33-33 — 66 -6 Peter Hanson 33-33 — 66 -6 Marcel Siem Nick Watney Lucas Glover Sean O’Hair Tiger Woods Fredrik Andersson Hed32-35 — 67 -5 Alejandro Canizares 33-34 — 67 -5 Y.E.Yang 34-33 — 67 -5 Lee Westwood 31-36 — 67 -5 MLS WESTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Galaxy 11 2 3 36 25 7 Salt Lake 9 3 3 30 28 11 FC Dallas 5 2 7 22 17 13 Colorado 6 4 4 22 16 13 QUAKES 64 4 22 18 16 Houston 5 7 4 19 21 22 Seattle 32-35 — 67 -5 33-34 — 67 -5 35-32 — 67 -5 30-37 — 67 -5 33-34 — 67 -5 33-30 — 63 -9 31-35 — 66 -6 32-34 — 66 -6 WL T Pts GF GA Columbus 8 3 4 28 20 13 New York 8 5 2 26 18 17 Toronto FC 6 4 4 22 17 15 Chicago 4 5 5 17 18 19 Kansas City 4 8 3 15 12 19 New England 4 9 2 14 15 26 D.C. Philadelphia 3 8 2 11 16 25 NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie. ——— Thursday’s result Seattle FC 1, D.C. United 0 CYCLING Tour de France Overall Standings after 11 stages Stage 12, Friday, 5:30 a.m., VERSUS 1. Andy Schleck, Luxembourg, Team Saxo Bank, 53 hours, 43 minutes, 25 seconds. 2. Alberto Contador, Spain, Astana, 41 sec- onds behind. 3.Samuel Sanchez, Spain, Euskaltel-Euska- di, 2:45. 4. Denis Menchov, Russia, Rabobank, 2:58. 5. Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Belgium, Omega Pharma-Lotto, 3:31. 6. Levi Leipheimer, United States, Team RadioShack, 3:59. 7. Robert Gesink, Netherlands, Rabobank, 4:22. 8. Luis-Leon Sanchez, Spain, Caisse d’Epargne, 4:41. 9. Joaquin Rodriguez, Spain, Katusha, 5:08. 10. Ivan Basso, Italy, Liquigas-Doimo, 5:09. ARENA NATIONALCONFERENCE Midwest Division WL T Pct PF PA x-Chicago 10 4 0 .714 805 745 Milwaukee 8 5 0 .615 857 748 Iowa 6 7 0 .462 653 663 Cleveland 6 8 0 .429 847 813 West Division WL T Pct PF PA y-Spokane 11 2 0 .846 828 688 Arizona 8 5 0 .615 801 747 Utah 1 12 0 .077 607 883 AMERICAN CONFERENCE Southwest Division WL T Pct PF PA 8 5 0 .615 808 729 Tulsa 5 8 4 19 18 24 Chivas USA 4 9 2 14 17 21 EASTERN CONFERENCE Okla. City 6 7 0 .462 712 703 Bossier-Shre. 3 11 0 .214 723 920 Dallas South Division 1 12 0 .077 632 761 WL T Pct PF PA x-Tampa Bay 10 3 0 .769 766 659 x-Jacksonville 9 4 0 .692 732 690 Orlando 6 7 0 .462 700 707 Alabama 6 7 0 .462 667 682 3 10 3 12 11 26 x-clinched playoff spot y-clinched division ——— Today’s games Spokane at Iowa, 5 p.m., NFLN Utah at Arizona, 7:30 p.m. DEALS Major League Baseball MLB—Suspended Washington minor league INF Steven Souza (Hagerstown-SAL) and OF J.R. Higley (Hagerstown-SAL) 50 games each for violating the drug policy. Suspended free agent OF Joshua Flores and SS Manuel Marquez 50 games each for violating the drug policy. American League BALTIMORE—Placed C Matt Wieters on the 15-day DL, retroactive to July 10. SEATTLE—Signed RHP Jamey Wright. Selected the contract of LHP Chris Seddon from Tacoma (PCL). Optioned RHP Sean White to Tacoma. Announced RHP Chad Cordero declined his option to Tacoma and is a free agent. TEXAS—Signed OF Josh Richmond and assigned him to Spokane (NWL). National League SAN FRANCISCO—Agreed to terms with LHP Dontrelle Willis to a minor league con- tract. ATLANTA—Activated OF Jason Heyward from the 15-day DL. Optioned SS Brandon Hicks to Gwinnett (IL).Placed LHP Eric O’Fla- herty on the 15-day DL, retroactive to July 10. Reclaed LHP Mike Dunn from Gwinnett. CINCINNATI—Signed RHP Russ Springer to a minor league contract. LOS ANGELES—Activated OF Manny Ramirez from the 15-day DL. Placed OF Reed Johnson on the 15-day DL. PHILADELPHIA—Activated RHP Chad Durbin from the 15-day DL. Designated RHP Nelson Figueroa for assignment. PITTSBUGH—Signed OF Mel Rojas Jr. ST. LOUIS—Agreed to terms with general manager John Mozeliak on a three-year con- tract extension. Golden League ORANGE COUNTY—Acquired LHP Zachary Cline from Yuma. Major League Soccer SEATTLE—Placed MF David Estrada on injured reserve. Activated F Blaise Nkufo. National Football League OAKLAND—Signed LB Travis Goethel and DB Jeremy Ware. ARIZONA—Signed WR Andre Roberts to a four-year contract.Released DE Ryan Kees. NEW ORLEANS—Signed DT Al Woods. National Basketball Association GOLDEN STATE—Announced Chris Cohan agreed to sell the franchise to Boston Celtics minority partner Joe Lacob and Mandalay Entertainment CEO Peter Guber. BOSTON—Re-signed F Paul Pierce to a four-year contract. CHICAGO—Named Scottie Pippen ambas- sador. DENVER—Signed G Anthony Carter and F- C Shelden Williams. MIAMI—Signed F Mike Miller to a five-year contract. NEW JESREY—Signed F Derrick Favors and F Damion James. UTAH—Agreed to terms with G Raja Bell on a three-year contract. National Hockey League SAN JOSE—Signed F T.J. Trevelyan and D Sean Sullivan to one-year contracts. ANAHEIM—Agreed to terms with D Brendan Mikkelson on a one-year contract. BOSTON—Signed F Gregory Campbell and D Adam McQuaid to two-year contracts and D Andrew Bodnarchuk and F Jeff LoVecchio to one-year contracts. COLUMBUS—Re-signed F Tom Sestito to a one-year contract. DETROIT—Re-signed D Derek Meech to a one-year contract. EDMONTON—Named Kelly Buchberger and Steve Smith assistant coaches and Todd Nelson coach of Oklahoma City (AHL). FLORIDA—Signed LW Mike Duco, LW Ken- ndal McArdle and G Tyler Plante to one-year contracts. MINNESOTA—Signed C Mikko Koivu to a seven-year contract extension through the 2017-18 season. Re-signed G Anton Khu- dobin to a one-year contract. MONTREAL—Signed F Alexander Avtsin to a three-year contract and F David Desharnais to a one-year contract. N.Y. RANGERS—Agreed to terms with D Mike Sauer. ST. LOUIS—Re-signed D Tyson Strachan to a one-year contract. TAMPA BAY—Re-signed C Blair Jones to a one-year contract. WASHINGTON—Signed C Jay Beagle to a two-year contract and RW Andrew Gordon, C Andrew Joudrey, D Patrick McNeill and D Zach Miskovic to one-year contracts. College DEPAUL—Named Mac Calloway director of strength and conditioning. INDIANA STATE—Named Rick Minter line- backers coach, Mike Simmonds and Harold Etheridge offensive line coaches, PJ Volker outside linebackers coach and Clayton Dever offensive assistant. NICHOLLS STATE—Named Rennie Bailey men’s assistant basketball coach. OREGON—Named Rob Mullens athletic director. SOUTH ALABAMA—Named Mark Calvi associate head baseball coach. TULSA—Named Blair Philbrick director of football operations. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The San Francisco Giants have signed former 20-game winner Dontrelle Willis to a minor league contract. The team announced the deal with the Bay Area native Thursday. Willis had been designated for assignment by Ari- zona earlier this month. In six games with Arizona, Willis was 1-1 with a 6.85 ERA and 27 walks in 22 1-3 innings. Willis was traded from Detroit to Arizona in June. The Tigers are still paying the bulk of his $12 million salary. Willis won the NL Rookie of the Year in 2003, made two All-Star teams and won 22 games one season for Florida. He helped the Marlins win the World Series in 2003. But he is 13-24 with a 5.81 ERA since the start of the 2007 season. SOLD (Continued from page 1B) websites, was the primary investor in the women’s American Basketball League along in venture cap- ital. Guber is a producer who helped bring movies such as ‘‘Rain Man,’’ ‘‘Batman,’’ ‘‘Flashdance,’’ and ‘‘The Color Purple’’ to the screen. In 1995, he founded the Mandalay Entertainment Group with partner Paul Schaeffer, who will also be an owner of the team. Man- dalay has financed, produced and distributed numerous motion pictures including ‘‘Donnie Brasco,’’ ‘‘Enemy at the Gates,’’ and ‘‘Seven Years in Tibet.’’ Cohan has had financial problems. In 2007, the Inter- nal Revenue Service said he owed more than $160 mil- lion in back income taxes and penalties from the 1998 sale of a cable television company. Cohan bought the War- riors in January 1995 for about $119 million and made the playoffs just once in his entire tenure. The only other franchises that have been in the league since then leaderboard at the end of a round. He made his move through the loop, then ended his string of three straight birdies on the par-5 14th. Woods was moving closer to the lead until he badly pulled a 4-foot par putt on the 17th, then missed a 10-foot birdie try on the last hole. ‘‘I’m in good shape,’’ Woods said. ‘‘I took advan- tage of the golf course when I needed to take advantage of it. As of right now, we’re on the good side of the draw. But you don’t know tomor- row.’’ Woods won the last two times on the Old Course by a combined 13 shots, and his bid to become the first play- er with three claret jugs at the home of golf is still in the picture. Asked if he could catch McIlroy, Woods replied, to make the playoffs fewer than five times are the Los Angeles Clippers with two appearances and the Mem- phis/Vancouver Grizzlies with three. The one playoff berth came in 2007, when the Warriors became the first No. 8 seed to beat the top seed in a best-of-seven series. Golden State lost to Utah in the following round and failed to make the play- offs in 2008 despite winning 48 games. The Warriors have reverted to form the past two seasons with 55 wins in that span. But despite the long run of on-court struggles, Gold- en State has a passionate fan base that has helped pack Oracle Arena in recent years and made the team a desir- able target for a new owner. Cohan thanked the War- riors fans, calling them the ‘‘best fans in all of sports.’’ One of the first major decisions the new owners will have to make is whether to keep the Warriors man- agement team in place. Coach Don Nelson has one year and $6 million remain- ing on his contract. President Robert Rowell and general manager Larry Riley also could be replaced. ‘‘We’ve still got three more rounds.’’ Five players were only three shots behind at 66, a group that includes Daly, who won at St. Andrews in 1995, the last time the weather acted up. Those in the large group with Woods included Westwood, PGA champion Y.E. Yang and former U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover. Defending champion Stewart Cink opened with a 70, despite catching St. Andrews lying down. In the nine times McIlroy has competed at St. Andrews, as an amateur and a pro, he has broken 70 every time. ‘‘I’ve actually never played St. Andrews when the weather has been that bad,’’ McIlroy said. ‘‘That’s probably why my scores have been quite good.’’