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2B – Daily News – Thursday, August 5, 2010 Left guard Gallery holds the key to Raiders’line issues NAPA (AP) — After an injury-filled couple of seasons, Oakland Raiders’ left guard Robert Gallery is eager to stay healthy and on the field. Gallery missed 10 games last season after breaking his right leg early in Week 2 and a back injury sidelined him for the final three games of 2009. Add to that the first two weeks of training camp Gallery missed last year after undergoing an emergency appendectomy. ‘‘I think I’m good for probably another five years,’’ Gallery said. ‘‘It was just one thing after anoth- er. They were both freak things. It GIANTS Continued from page 1B was in the gap so I’m sup- posed to score.’’ His teammates were impressed with his quick recovery. ‘‘When we have to run from first to home and go out to the outfield, for me it’s tough,’’ Gonzalez said. ‘‘He’s a really good ath- lete and he was able to come back.’’ Jimenez came back to strike out the side in the top of the third. Gonzalez looked over- matched in his first two at- bats against Madison Bumgarner (4-4). He struck out twice, first on a 75-mph curveball and then a ball in the dirt, before hitting a two-run homer in the fifth inning to make it 4-0. ‘‘It was hard for me to pick up the ball at the beginning of the game,’’ Gonzalez said. ‘‘He throws sidearm sometimes and it’s tough for lefty- lefty. I made the adjust- ment in my third at-bat and hit the home run.’’ He notched his first career multihomer game when he hit his 23rd off reliever Denny Bautista with two outs in the sixth. Tulowitzki followed with RYDER Continued from page 1B So far this year, he’s been anything but bogus when climbing those Ryder Cup charts. ‘‘(Making the team) would be half the goal, and then the next half of the goal would be to figure out a way to go win the USA some points,’’ he said. ——— BY ANY OTHER NAME: Sometimes a golfer needs to not be so concerned about winning in order to win. That was perhaps the case for Justin Rose for his first decade as a profes- sional. In six full years (and parts of four or five others), he never won on American soil. Second- place finishes at the Texas Open in ’06, Bridgestone in ’07 and Memorial in ’08 not only whetted his appetite for winning, but also increased the ques- tions about why he wasn’t winning. Rose turned 30 last week but he’s been cele- brating all year in the U.S. Wins at the Memorial and AT&T National have pushed him up the charts in the world rankings. He was 70th to start the year wasn’t because I was out of shape or anything like that. Hopefully that’s it for the duration.’’ The Raiders hope so too. Gallery, the No. 2 overall draft pick in 2004, is the anchor of Oakland’s offensive line after having made a successful conver- sion from tackle to guard early in his career. Coach Tom Cable calls Gallery ‘‘arguably (our) best play- er.’’ With Gallery in the lineup, the Raiders averaged 289.1 yards in total offense and allowed 2.8 sacks a game in 2009. In the 10 games he was injured, the offense his 10th homer, the fifth time Colorado has hit back-to-back home runs this season. Gonzalez has been part of four of them. ‘‘He’s just tough,’’ Bumgarner said. ‘‘He’s hot right now and he’s a good hitter.’’ The Giants got their only run in the sixth when Aubrey Huff and Buster Posey hit consecutive two-out doubles to make it 4-1. Notes: Posey left the game in the seventh inning after taking a foul ball off his right shoulder. Bochy said Posey could have stayed in the game but the manager didn’t want to take any chances. ... Bum- garner allowed four runs on nine hit in four-plus innings. ... Rockies 3B Melvin Mora left the game with a left knee con- tusion after being hit by a pitch in the fifth. ... Posey was the NL player of the month for July, after hit- ting .417 with seven home runs and 24 RBIs. He led the league with 43 hits in the month. ... Rockies CF Dexter Fowler came into the game in the eighth as a defensive replacement. It was his first action since bruising his ribs and left hip running into the wall against the Cubs on Sun- day. but is now 19th. After years of promise mixed with disappointment, he is considered a threat to win every tournament. ‘‘I said before I started winning that my game was in great shape,’’ he said on Wednesday. ‘‘I didn’t need to do anything different; I didn’t need to work on anything. I guess it was the patience factor of just letting it happen.’’ Rose was born in South Africa and raised in Eng- land. He now has homes in London and Orlando, Fla. Some athletes begin to press when they don’t meet their own or others’ expec- tations. The difference for Rose was letting go. ‘‘The switch for me was ... just letting it come out on the golf course, just letting my game sort of go to the first tee, not getting in my own way,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s a very simple mind- set to talk about, much harder to do.’’ ——— 59 FALLOUT: It’s dif- ficult for the typical once- a-week golfer to even con- template how someone shoots 59. Stuart Appleby became the fifth player to shoot a 59 in a PGA Tour event when he won the Green- brier Classic on Sunday by going 11-under over the A’S Continued from page 1B Sean O’Sullivan (1-2) is still looking for his first victory since joining Kansas City. He made his first career start against Oakland and third outing for the Royals since they acquired him from the Angels on July 22. ‘‘We struggled early. I thought some guys were getting frustrated,’’ A’s manager Bob Geren said. ‘‘It didn’t seem like O’Sullivan’s stuff was unhittable but we made it look like it was.’’ Cliff Pennington got things going in the sixth on a single, then Coco Crisp walked. Daric Barton hit a soft single and O’Sullivan fielded the ball and threw wildly past first. Pennington scored from second on the play for Oakland’s first run. Suzuki then drove in a run despite reaching on an error by third base- man Mike Aviles. ‘‘I was unable to get the ground ball from Kouzmanoff when I need- ed it,’’ O’Sullivan said. ‘‘It boils down to that. Throwing the ball 600 Continued from page 1B hands above their heads. The rest of the team also came out to greet Rodriguez. After stepping off the field, then coming out for a curtain call, A-Rod kept on receiving congratu- lations in the Yankees’ last 18 holes. Appleby, set to tee it off in Thursday’s opening round of the Bridgestone Invitational, turned the front side in 6 under. The thought immediately came to him that if he main- tained that he might just win the tournament. ‘‘Then I eagled 12 and I thought, ’I’m on record pace,’’’ he said. ‘‘I thought there’s nothing at the end of the round that’s going to stand out to be a real test if I’m playing any good. There’s no 500- yard, par-4s; there’s birdie opportunities there. The course was very benign.’’ Still, he needed to con- tinue to not just play well but to make birdies. As he traversed the back nine at the Old White, the word spread about what he had within his grasp. The pres- sure grew, because Apple- by also knew. ‘‘I thought, well, just got to keep hitting it close and see if I can make putts — and the putts just seemed to come to me,’’ he said. Always, his primary incentive was catching, then staying ahead of Jeff Overton. ‘‘I sort of had two moti- vating forces,’’ Appleby said. ‘‘One was to try and chase, and one was to also dugout. At 35 years, 8 days, Rodriguez joined an elite club that includes Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714), Willie Mays (660), Ken Griffey Jr. (630) and Sammy Sosa (609). The next youngest was Ruth at 36 years, 196 days. The ball he hit was the do something a bit unique.’’ ——— WHO’S NO. 1? Tiger Woods has been No. 1 in the world golf rankings for the past 270 weeks. But he could fall from that perch this weekend at the Bridgestone Invitational. If Woods wins, he stays No. 1. If second-ranked Phil Mickelson wins, he takes over the top spot. If third- ranked Lee Westwood wins, and Tiger finishes third or worse, he could be the world’s top player. Mickelson or West- wood could also take over No. 1 if they were to finish high and Woods were well back in the pack. ——— DIVOTS: The top 50 players in the world rank- ings are scheduled to play in the Bridgestone which has a purse of $8.5 million and pays $1.4 million to the winner. ... An older woman stood by the first tee on Wednesday wearing a pink T-shirt that said, ‘‘You Thrill Me, Phil.’’ ... Spectators who spend $75 on tournament merchan- dise receive a free ticket to Sunday’s round. ... Apple- by met his wife, Ashley, at a nearby restaurant 10 years ago during the Bridgestone. They’ve been married eight years. Scoreboard MLB American League By The Associated Press East Division WL Pct GB New York 67 40 .626 — Tampa Bay 67 40 .626 — Boston 61 47 .5656 1/2 Toronto 56 52 .51911 1/2 Baltimore 34 73 .318 33 Central Division WL Pct GB Chicago 61 46 .570 — Minnesota 60 48 .5561 1/2 Detroit 53 54 .495 8 Cleveland 46 62 .42615 1/2 Kansas City46 62 .42615 1/2 West Division Texas WL Pct GB 61 45 .575 — Oakland 54 53 .5057 1/2 Los Angeles54 55 .4958 1/2 Seattle 40 67 .37421 1/2 ——— Wednesday’s Games N.Y.Yankees 5, Toronto 1 Oakland 4, Kansas City 3 Chicago White Sox 4, Detroit 1 Baltimore 9, L.A. Angels 7 Cleveland 9, Boston 1 Minnesota 2, Tampa Bay 1, 13 innings Texas at Seattle, late Thursday’s Games Minnesota (Slowey 10-5) at Tampa Bay (W.Davis 9-9), 9:10 a.m. Chicago White Sox (F.Garcia 10-4) at Detroit (Scherzer 7-8), 10:05 a.m. L.A. Angels (Haren 0-2) at Baltimore (Arrieta 3-3), 4:05 p.m. Cleveland (Tomlin 1-0) at Boston (Mat- suzaka 7-3), 4:10 p.m. Texas (Tom.Hunter 8-1) at Seattle (F.Her- nandez 7-8), 7:10 p.m. Friday’s Games Boston at N.Y.Yankees, 4:05 p.m. Chicago White Sox at Baltimore, 4:05 p.m. L.A. Angels at Detroit, 4:05 p.m. Minnesota at Cleveland, 4:05 p.m. Tampa Bay at Toronto, 4:07 p.m. Texas at Oakland, 7:05 p.m. Kansas City at Seattle, 7:10 p.m. National League By The Associated Press East Division WL Pct GB Atlanta 61 46 .570 — Philadelphia59 48 .551 2 New York 54 54 .5007 1/2 Florida 53 54 .495 8 Washington 47 60 .439 14 Central Division WL Pct GB Cincinnati 61 48 .560 — St. Louis 60 48 .556 1/2 Milwaukee 50 59 .459 11 Houston 47 60 .439 13 Chicago 47 61 .43513 1/2 Pittsburgh 37 70 .346 23 West Division WL Pct GB San Diego 62 43 .590 — San Francisco 62 46 .5741 1/2 Colorado 56 51 .523 7 Los Angeles55 52 .514 8 Arizona 40 67 .374 23 ——— Wednesday’s Games Cincinnati 9, Pittsburgh 4 Chicago Cubs 15, Milwaukee 3 Colorado 6, San Francisco 1 Atlanta 8, N.Y.Mets 3 Philadelphia 7, Florida 2 St. Louis 8, Houston 4 Washington at Arizona, late San Diego at L.A. Dodgers, late Thursday’s Games Colorado (Francis 4-3) at Pittsburgh (Ja.McDonald 0-1), 4:05 p.m. Philadelphia (Oswalt 6-13) at Florida (Vol- stad 5-8), 4:10 p.m. San Francisco (Lincecum 11-4) at Atlanta (Jurrjens 3-4), 4:10 p.m. Washington (Detwiler 0-1) at Arizona (Enright 2-2), 6:40 p.m. San Diego (Correia 7-7) at L.A. Dodgers (Billingsley 9-5), 7:10 p.m. Friday’s Games Cincinnati at Chicago Cubs, 11:20 a.m. Colorado at Pittsburgh, 4:05 p.m. St. Louis at Florida, 4:10 p.m. N.Y. Mets at Philadelphia, 4:35 p.m. San Francisco at Atlanta, 4:35 p.m. Houston at Milwaukee, 5:10 p.m. San Diego at Arizona, 6:40 p.m. Washington at L.A. Dodgers, 7:10 p.m. MOVES By The Associated Press BASEBALL American League BOSTON RED SOX — Activated OF Jacoby Ellsbury from the 15-day DL. Optioned OF Daniel Nava to Pawtucket (IL). CHICAGO WHITE SOX — Optioned RHP Carlos Torres to Charlotte (IL). Purchased the contract of LHP Chris Sale from Char- lotte (IL). DETROIT TIGERS — Reinstated 3B Bran- don Inge from the 15-day DL. Placed INF Danny Worth on the 15-day DL. SEATTLE MARINERS — Activated 1B/DH Mike Sweeney from the 15-day DL and trad- ed him to Philadelphia for a player to be named or cash considerations. National League ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS — Recalled RHP Rafael Rodriguez from Reno (PCL). Optioned INF Tony Abreu to Reno. LOS ANGELES DODGERS—Placed C Russell Martin on the 15-day DL.Recalled C A.J. Ellis from Albuquerque (PCL). PITTSBURGH PIRATES — Claimed RHP Chris Resop off waivers from Atlanta and RHP Chan Ho Park off waivers from the N.Y. Yankees.Transferred 1B Steve Pearce to the 60-day DL.Designated RHP Steven Jackson for assignment. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS — Placed RHP Jason Motte on the 15-day DL, retroactive to Aug. 3. Recalled RHP Fernando Salas from Memphis (PCL). BASKETBALL National Basketball Association BOSTON CELTICS — Signed C Shaquille O’Neal. DETROIT PISTONS — Re-signed C Ben Wallace to a two-year contract. PHOENIX SUNS — Signed G Matt Janning to a multiyear contract. FOOTBALL National Football League CHICAGO BEARS — Signed DL Maurice Evans to a two-year contract. Released P Richmond McGee. DENVER BRONCOS—Signed RB LenDale White. Released RB Kolby Smith. DETROIT LIONS — Agreed to terms with DT Ndamukong Suh. Released DT Leger Douzable and S Marquand Manuel. Signed S Randy Phillips. MIAMI DOLPHINS—Placed LB A.J.Edds on injured reserve. Re-Signed CB Evan Ogles- by.Waived RB Kory Sheets. Announced CB A.J.Wallace left the team. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS — Signed OL Eric Ghiaciuc. Released OL John Wise. SEATTLE SEAHAWKS — Released LS Matt Overton. Signed LB Anthony Heygood. fell to 252.3 yards while the sacks were at 3.2 per game. It wasn’t just the stats that suffered either. Left tackle Mario Henderson and center Samson Satele, who line up alongside Gallery, both struggled without their left guard. ‘‘I think that’s a fair state- ment,’’ Cable said. ‘‘Every posi- tion has someone that’s the glue to it, especially in the offensive line where you have that many people who need to be on the same page every snap, down after down. When you take arguably your best player out of that mix I think it does affect the people around them. ‘‘Robert is a real- ly fine, fine player and he’s proven that. Last year the injury didn’t (give) him the opportunity for him to show it.’’ The 6-foot-7, 325-pound Gallery, whose long stringy hair and tattoo-covered forearms make him easy to spot in a crowd, underwent surgery in the offsea- down the line didn’t help either. I rushed it. I make that play 10 out of 10 times. That’s what makes it frus- trating.’’ Right fielder Rajai Davis stole a hit from Kila Ka’aihue in the top of the seventh with a running, leaping catch against the wall in the far cor- ner. Off the bat, it looked like a home run. ‘‘I didn’t get it. The wind blew it back in,’’ Ka’aihue said. ‘‘I missed it.’’ Guillen was back in right field for the series finale after a long stretch as designated hitter. Manager Ned Yost believes Guillen is more effec- tive offensively when he’s in the field, though he still went 0 for 4 and now is mired in an 0-for-21 funk. His last hit was a double last Fri- day against Baltimore, and he was 0 for 11 this series. Mark Ellis singled in the second to give him a 12-game hitting streak against Kansas City, the club that drafted him. The teams still play three more times next month in Kansas City. Last year, the A’s won the season son after injuring his lower back in a Week 13 win at Pittsburgh. Doctors fused three vertebrae together and removed some carti- lage in Gallery’s back. Before the surgery, Gallery wondered if his career might be over. ‘‘That was worse than any- thing,’’ Gallery said. ‘‘Once we figured out what it was and they could fix it, we went with it. It was frustrating because I’ve been doing that same stuff my whole career, the same things I did when I got hurt. There’s a week where you’re upset about it, but then you have to get healthy and then get back.’’ series 6-2. Notes: Alex Gordon’s double that led to him scoring the go-ahead run in the ninth inning of Kansas City’s 3-2 win Tuesday was over- turned and instead ruled a two-base error. The ball took a bad hop and went through 1B Barton’s legs. ‘‘I can see that scoring decision being a close one. It could have gone either way,’’ said Oakland manager Bob Geren. ... A’s closer Andrew Bailey made about 20 throws from 60 feet and will throw again on flat ground Thursday or Friday. Bailey hasn’t pitched since July 20 because of a strained right ribcage muscle. ... Royals C Jason Kendall and 3B Wilson Betemit rested, giv- ing them a two-day break with Thursday’s off day. ... Zack Greinke’s start Friday for Kansas City at Seattle will mark the pitch- er’s 200th appearance (159th start). ... The A’s raised more than $31,000 for juvenile diabetes research through their annual rootbeer float day. ... Oakland is 16-11 in one-run games. ... Pennington stole his 16th and 17th bases. 104th specially marked one that had been used for each of his plate appearances since reaching No. 599. The Yankees immediately put commemorative T-shirts on sale at concession stands for $25 each, and one stand behind home plate sold out within two innings. The milestone homer provided a lift during a try- 49ERS Continued from page 1B get better every day and keep on grinding.’’ Iupati’s ability to grind in the trenches has been one of his most impressive qualities. The 331-pound mauler has displayed the power and strength that made him one of the top line prospects in the draft, smothering linebackers more than a few times during team drills. That’s exactly what the 49ers want but haven’t been getting enough of in recent seasons. ‘‘We were not good enough up front (last year),’’ Singletary said. ‘‘It’s as simple as that.’’ Iupati and Davis were brought in to change that, and so far the results have been promising. The 323-pound Davis is on a more gradual learning curve at right tackle, where he’s expected to challenge incumbent Adam Snyder for the starting role. But Davis took most of the first-team snaps Wednesday with Snyder moving to right guard in place of regular starter Chilo Rachal. Rachal collapsed during Tuesday afternoon’s prac- tice and was motionless on the turf before he was taken to the locker room on a cart suffering from what the team called dehydration. Rachal watched practice from the sidelines Wednesday and is listed as day to day. Snyder has previous starting experience at guard, so Davis could see his first-team work increase if Sny- der is needed there. But in the early going, Iupati is the rookie lineman who has created the biggest waves. Tucked in between left tackle Joe Staley and center Eric Heitmann — the two most distinguished veterans along San Francisco’s offensive line — Iupati already looks something like a natural. ‘‘All I can say about Mike is he’s going to be a great player, and he’s already doing a really good job for us right now,’’ Heitmann said. ‘‘Obviously, he has all the physical tools he needs to be successful at this level and he’s got a great attitude. The more experi- ence he gets, he’s just going to keep getting better.’’ ing stretch for the Yankees, who had lost three in a row. Not only have they watched the Tampa Bay Rays pass them for first place in the AL East, off the field they are still mourning the recent loss of owner George Stein- brenner, beloved public- address announcer Bob Sheppard and former man- ager Ralph Houk.