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2B – Daily News – Thursday, August 12, 2010 Braden tosses 4-hitter, A’s win Athletics 5 Seattle 1 SEATTLE (AP) — Dallas Braden wasn’t perfect this time, but he was still awfully good. The Oakland left-hander looked as good as he has in months against the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday, tossing a four-hitter for his fourth career complete game in a 5-1 victory. Braden (7-8) won for just the third time in nine decisions since throwing the 19th perfect game in major league history against Tampa Bay on May 9. He went 0- 5 in nine starts after his gem before landing on the disabled list from June 23-July 20 with left elbow tightness. ‘‘He’s just sharp mentally and physically right now,’’ A’s manag- er Bob Geren said. ‘‘He had a real good changeup with two different speeds today. He was able to pitch inside enough to keep both lanes open for his fastball. He threw a lot of strikes.’’ Braden was effective and effi- cient, throwing just 104 pitches and 69 strikes. He walked two and struck out six while improving to 3-1 with a 2.97 ERA since coming off the DL. ‘‘He’s got a really good changeup and got a lot of swings and misses on the changeup,’’ said the Mariners’ Russell Branyon. ‘‘He spotted his heater and had good command today.’’ Mark Ellis supported him with three doubles and drove in three runs, most of the damage coming against Luke French (1-3). He allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings. The Mariners had won the first two games in the series, Ellis playing a key role in each one. He hit into a triple-play Monday, the first for the Mariners in 15 years, ‘‘It was a series of threes — triple play, three strikeouts and three doubles. It was definitely an interesting series, as long as I get the three hits in there. But no more triple plays.’’ — Mark Ellis and struck out three times Tues- day against Felix Hernandez before finishing with a career- high three doubles. ‘‘It was a series of threes — triple play, three strikeouts and three doubles,’’ Ellis said. ‘‘It was definitely an interesting series, as long as I get the three hits in there. But no more triple plays.’’ Ellis had entered the game with just one extra-base hit over his previous 18 games. ‘‘He’s always been a guy who could split a gap, hit some dou- bles,’’ Geren said. ‘‘He was just in extra-base-hit drought. They were all hit hard, too.’’ Ellis hit the first double to open the second, stole third and scored when Coco Crisp hit a sharp sin- gle to left. The A’s added a run in the fourth when Rajai Davis hit a one-out double into the left-field corner, and Landon Powell lifted a two-out single into shallow cen- ter. ‘‘The one to Powell was big,’’ French said. ‘‘I had two strikes on him and two outs and was trying to go away and left it up and away. And he hit it. They took advan- tage of the mistakes and that was pretty much the game.’’ The A’s added two more runs in the fifth, when Ellis ripped a dou- ble down the third-base. Just three Mariners reached base off Braden through the first six innings, but he still faced the minimum number of batters to that point. All three were wiped away with double plays. The Mariners finally put together a meager rally in the sev- enth, when Ichiro Suzuki and Jose Lopez singled. Branyan walked to load the bases with one out, and Franklin Gutierrez hit a sacrifice fly that was caught by left fielder Chris Carter on the warning track. Braden thought it was a grand slam. ‘‘Absolutely. I was just think- ing that I hope Carter is 7-foot-12 and had a shot to get over the fence and catch it,’’ Braden said. ‘‘I thought (Gutierrez) got it.’’ Casey Kotchman bounced out to first to end the threat, and Ellis finished the scoring with a RBI double in the eighth. It scored Cliff Pennington all the way from first. Ellis is hitting .423 (11 of 26) against Seattle this season. NOTES: A’s RHP Ben Sheets had Tommy John surgery on his right elbow Monday. The club did not supply specifics on the surgery until 48 hours afterward. Sheets had been told that his ulnar collateral ligament was not involved, but Texas Rangers team surgeon Dr. Keith Meister found the UCL damage during the operation. He transferred the tendon along with repairing the flexor tendon and pronator tendon. Sheets signed a one- year deal with the A’s this season. ... A’s SS Adam Rosales left the game in the second with a hurt right ankle. Cliff Pennington replaced him. 49ers DL Balmer misses third straight day of camp San Francisco 49ers SANTA CLARA (AP) — Kentwan Balmer missed his third consecutive day of practice with the San Francisco 49ers on Wednesday, and now it’s no longer OK with coach Mike Singletary and the team. Singletary gave Balmer a pass Monday and Tuesday to deal with a ‘‘personal issue.’’ Wednesday’s absence was unexcused. ‘‘I told Kentwan to be here this morning,’’ Singletary said. ‘‘He’s not here. He is under contract. The fact that he’s not here, that speaks to me. What it says, I really don’t know. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t know what he’s doing.’’ Balmer, San Francisco’s first-round draft pick in 2008, is entering the third season of the five-year, $8 million deal he signed as a rookie. The defensive lineman from North Carolina has been a disappointment so far to the 49ers and was battling just to make the roster this summer. He has yet to start a game or record a sack in his two seasons with the team. Balmer finished last season on injured reserve after miss- ing San Francisco’s final five games with a torn labrum. He declared himself healthy at the start of training camp, but has fallen down the depth chart this summer behind starters Justin Smith and Isaac Sopoaga and veteran backups Ray McDonald and Demetric Evans. Singletary said the 49ers would ‘‘probably have to bring in another player’’ along their defensive line. The team also is practicing without Aubrayo Franklin, who spearheaded San Francisco’s 3-4 defensive scheme last season from his starting nose tackle position. Franklin had a career season in 2009, and the 49ers designated him as their franchise player in March. Franklin missed all of San Francisco’s offseason workouts and has remained absent during training camp as he seeks a new contract. He has yet to sign the team’s one- year tender offer of $7.003 million and may not arrive until the end of this month. Starting right end Justin Smith, the veteran leader of San Francisco’s defensive line, said the unit already has adjusted to the absence of both Franklin and Balmer. ‘‘We’re moving along,’’ Smith said. ‘‘Whatever the situa- tion may be, in football you’re used to people going down so it’s no big deal. You just roll with what you’ve got.’’ Balmer’s name has surfaced recently in news reports of an NCAA investigation at North Carolina, which Balmer attended. The investigation has no impact on Balmer’s NFL career, and the 49ers don’t believe it has anything to do with Balmer’s absence. A 49ers spokesman said the team is now following standard procedure for a player who has left camp, indicating Balmer will be fined for any further absences. Whistling Straits sand traps pop up all over PGA Championship SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (AP) — The muted green sign among the native grass- es invites golfers into Whistling Straits. Just ahead the raised bunkers that dot the hill to the clubhouse look less hospitable. While the most promi- nent feature that’ll be dis- played this week at the 2010 PGA Championship will be the wind-swept views with Lake Michigan glistening in the background, all the sand will likely torment the pros. ‘‘As soon as you drive through the gates, there’s bunkers there staring you in the face. So, I don’t see a golf course anywhere near there,’’ Hunter Mahan said. ‘‘They’re everywhere, real- ly. I mean, I feel bad for the fans because it seems like you could be walking and all of sudden you’re falling in a hole of sand and don’t even know it.’’ The number of bunkers at architect Pete Dye’s 1998 creation isn’t known. A recent Golf Digest article concluded there were 967. ‘‘There’s so many of them. In a four-day tourna- ment, you’re bound to be in some,’’ Zach Johnson said. Course maintenance manager Michael Lee says the number of bunkers isn’t a secret. So how many are there? ‘‘It’s truly a fluid number because the property is so vast. What is along the lake? What is on the golf course? What’s on the (neighboring) Irish Course? Are the entry road bunkers part of the Straits course? Probably not. So, do you count those?’’ Lee said. Nature also plays a role in reshaping the course every winter when the snow comes and goes. ‘‘The winds blow here and it just blows the snow and sand right off the golf course,’’ Lee said. ‘‘You have bunkers that are creat- ed and some that are lost.’’ In truth, there are less than 100 sand traps in play when the pros tee it up, but it’s no easy business getting it ready. Every day, Lee’s crew of 32 hand rakes every bunker inside the ropes for more than two hours begin- ning at 5 a.m. ‘‘It’s a work in progress, you’re never finished taking care of a golf course,’’ Lee said. ‘‘It’s a matter of setting priorities. For resort play, we hand rake all the ones in play: those are the ones along the fairway, the green- side ones every day. Today, you’ll see a little bit wider version of that, everything inside the ropes.’’ There’s so much sand, players start to admire the traps. One bunker getting the most attention is at the sixth, where a giant 6-foot trap cuts through the green, dividing it. Phil Mickelson said he likes the hole layout that will punish a wayward wedge shot. ‘‘It’s a really cool bunker and a really cool hole,’’ Mickelson said. ‘‘It is a huge penalty if you mishit your wedge and go in that bunker.’’ Lee, who has been part of the golf course since its inception, said Dye’s vision has made the course firm, but fair and contends pros who finds themselves in the deep bunker should be able to play out. ‘‘It is very difficult for any human being to visually sort out the sand here that comes into play. I think as the players go through the week, they will get accus- tomed to looking at all that sand and really get to know the Straits better and be able to tune some of that out,’’ Lee said. For the moment, players are still trying to wrap their minds around just how many traps dot the course. ‘‘There are some very small bunkers out there. To get a 1,000 of them out there, you have to have some pretty small ones,’’ Justin Rose said. ‘‘You just have to accept sometimes that when we’re in a bunker, we expect to get it up and down. That might not be the case this week.’’ And being off line could mean a long day. MLB West Division Texas American League WL Pct GB Angels 59 57 .509 7.5 A’s 65 48 .575 — 57 56 .504 8 Seattle 44 71 .383 22 East Division WL Pct GB New York 70 43 .619 — Tampa Bay 69 45 .605 1.5 Boston 66 49 .574 5 Toronto 59 54 .522 11 Baltimore 40 74 .351 30.5 Central Division WL Pct GB Chicago 64 50 .561 — Minnesota 64 50 .561 — Detroit 55 59 .482 9 Cleveland 47 67 .412 17 Kansas City 47 67 .412 17 ————————————————— Wednesday’s results Oakland 5, Seattle 1 Baltimore 3, Cleveland 1 Boston 10, Toronto 1 Chicago 6, Minnesota 1 Detroit 3, Tampa Bay 2 Los Angeles 2, Kansas City 1, 10 innings New York 7, Texas 6 Today’s games Boston (Lackey 10-7) at Toronto (Mills 1-0), 9:37 a.m. Baltimore (Millwood 2-11) at Cleveland (J.Gomez 2-0), 4:05 p.m. Minnesota (Liriano 10-7) at Chicago (Floyd 8-8), 5:10 p.m. New York (Sabathia 14-5) at Kansas City (Chen 7-5), 5:10 p.m. Tuesday’s late results Seattle 2, Oakland 0 Los Angeles 3, Kansas City 1 WNBA EASTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB Indiana 19 10 .655 — New York 17 11 .607 1.5 Atlanta 18 12 .600 1.5 Washington 17 12 .586 2 Connecticut 14 15 .483 5 Chicago 13 17 .433 6.5 MLB West Division National League WL Pct GB Padres 65 46 .586 — GIANTS 64 50 .561 2.5 Colorado 59 54 .522 7 Dodgers 59 55 .518 7.5 Arizona 46 69 .400 21 East Division WL Pct GB Atlanta 66 48 .579 — Philadelphia 63 50 .558 2.5 Florida 56 56 .500 9 New York 56 57 .496 9.5 Washington 49 65 .430 17 Central Division WL Pct GB St. Louis 64 49 .566 — Cincinnati 64 51 .557 1 Milwaukee 53 62 .461 12 Chicago 48 65 .425 16 Houston 48 65 .425 16 Pittsburgh 39 73 .348 24.5 ————————————————— Wednesday’s results Chicago at San Francisco, late Arizona 8, Milwaukee 2 Atlanta 8, Houston 2, 10 innings Colorado 6, New York 2 Florida 9, Washington 5 Philadelphia 2, Los Angeles 0 St. Louis 6, Cincinnati 1 Pittsburgh at San Diego, late Today’s games Chicago (R.Wells 5-10) at San Fran.(M.Cain 9-9),12:45 p.m.,CSNB Colorado (Hammel 8-6) at New York (J.Santana 9-6), 9:10 a.m., MLBN Arizona (R.Lopez 5-10) at Milwaukee (Ra.Wolf 8-9), 11:10 a.m. Pittsburgh (Duke 5-10) at San Diego (Garland 10-8), 3:35 p.m. Florida (Nolasco 12-8) at Washington (L.Hernandez 8-7), 4:05 p.m. Los Angeles (Kershaw 10-7) at Philadelphia (Blanton 4-6), 4:05 p.m., MLBN Tuesday’s late results Chicago 8, San Francisco 6 San Diego 4, Pittsburgh 1 NASCAR Sprint Cup Points Leaders 1.Kevin Harvick 2. Jeff Gordon 3. Jeff Burton 4.Kurt Busch 3,210 3,025 2,895 2,892 5. Jimmie Johnson 2,882 6.Denny Hamlin 7.Kyle Busch 8.Tony Stewart 9. Carl Edwards 10. Matt Kenseth 11. Greg Biffle 12. Mark Martin 13. Clint Bowyer 2,508 2,872 2,866 2,865 2,821 2,806 2,743 2,641 2,631 14.Ryan Newman 2,558 15. Jamie McMurray 2,547 16. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2,520 17. Kasey Kahne 18.David Reutimann 2,475 19. Juan Pablo Montoya 2,436 20. Martin Truex Jr. 2,401 Upcoming Schedule Aug.15 — Carfax 400, Brooklyn, Mich. Aug. 21 — Irwin Tools Night Race, Bristol, Tenn. Sep. 5 — Labor Day Classic 500, Hamp- ton, Ga. Sep.11 — Richmond 400, Richmond, Va. WESTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB z-Seattle 25 4 .862 — Phoenix 14 15 .483 11 Minnesota 11 17 .393 13.5 San Antonio 11 18 .379 14 Los Angeles 10 19 .345 15 Tulsa 5 24 .172 20 z-clinched conference ————————————————— Wednesday’s results No games scheduled Today’s games Los Angeles at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Tuesday’s late result Indiana 82, Los Angeles 76 ‘‘If you get out of posi- tion on this golf course,’’ Graeme McDowell said. ‘‘You’re in a world of pain, no doubt about it.’’ And trying to count all the sand traps proves point- NFL Preseason Today’s games Oakland at Dallas, 6 p.m.. New Orleans at New England, 4:30 p.m. Carolina at Baltimore, 5 p.m., ESPN Friday’s games Buffalo at Washington, 4:30 p.m. Jacksonville at Philadelphia, 4:30 p.m. Kansas City at Atlanta, 5 p.m. Saturday’s games Tampa Bay at Miami, 4 p.m. Detroit at Pittsburgh, 4:30 p.m. Cleveland at Green Bay, 5 p.m. Houston at Arizona, 5 p.m. Minnesota at St. Louis, 5 p.m. Chicago at San Diego, 6 p.m. Tennessee at Seattle, 7 p.m. Sunday’s games San Francisco at Indianapolis, 10 a.m. Denver at Cincinnati, 4 p.m. Monday’s game N.Y. Giants at N.Y. Jets, 5 p.m. North Division GOLDEN Golden League WL Pct. GB Calgary 15 6 .714 — Victoria 12 11 .522 4 OUTLAWS 99 .500 4.5 Edmonton 9 10 .474 5 St. George 6 10 .375 6.5 South Division Maui WL Pct. GB 10 3 .769 — Orange Co. 13 5 .722 -.5 Yuma 11 10 .524 3 Tucson 10 15 .400 6 Tijuana 2 17 .105 11 ————————————————— Wednesday’s results Chico at Edmonton, late Calgary 2, Tucson 1, 1st game Orange County 8, Tijuana 0, 1st game Orange County at Tijuana, late, 2nd game St. George at Victoria, late Tucson at Calgary, late, 2nd game Yuma at Maui, late Today’s games Chico at Edmonton, 6 p.m. Tucson at Calgary, 6:05 p.m. Orange County at Tijuana, 7 p.m. St. George at Victoria, 7 p.m. Yuma at Maui, 9:35 p.m. Tuesday’s late results Chico 20, Edmonton 5 Calgary 10, Tucson 4 less — even on a fact sheet handed out by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. It lists the details of the types of grass, water sources, green sizes and soil mix. As for bunkers? ‘‘Numerous.’’ A giant understatement. MLS WESTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Galaxy 12 3 4 40 31 13 Salt Lake 10 4 6 36 34 16 FC Dallas 7 2 9 30 24 16 Seattle 8 8 4 28 23 25 Colorado 7 5 6 27 20 17 QUAKES 66 5 23 20 20 Houston 5 9 5 20 23 29 Chivas USA 5 10 3 18 22 25 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Columbus 11 4 4 37 28 17 New York 9 6 4 31 21 21 Toronto FC 7 7 5 26 21 21 Chicago 5 5 6 21 21 21 Kansas City 5 8 5 20 15 21 New England 5 9 3 18 17 27 Philadelphia 4 10 4 16 22 33 D.C. New York 1, Toronto FC 0 Philadelphia 1, Real Salt Lake 1, tie 3 13 3 12 12 32 NOTE:Three points for victory, one point for tie. ————————————————— Wednesday’s results WPS Women’s Professional Soccer WL T Pts GF GA x-Gold Pride 12 3 3 39 30 14 Philadelphia 9 6 4 31 32 25 Boston 7 6 5 26 25 21 Sky Blue FC 6 8 4 22 17 24 Washington 5 8 6 21 27 30 Chicago 5 9 6 21 15 21 Atlanta 4 9 5 17 13 25 NOTE:Three points for victory, one point for tie. x - clinched playoff berth ————————————————— Wednesday’s results Philadelphia 2, Chicago 1 Sky Blue FC 1, Washington 1, tie