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4A – Daily News – Saturday, September 4, 2010 Gonzalez, Athletics shut out Angels L.A. Angels 0 Athletics 8 OAKLAND (AP) — Gio Gonzalez hardly had his best stuff in this outing and he still looked good. Oakland’s offense gave the pitcher plenty of wiggle room. Gonzalez tossed six innings to win a season-best third straight start, Kevin Kouzmanoff hit a two-run homer and the Athletics snapped a four-game losing streak with an 8- 0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night. Gonzalez (13-8) has a 1.04 ERA over his last four starts and improved to 7-3 at home this season with a 2.59 ERA. The left-hander allowed four hits, struck out six and walked three. Manager Bob Geren told his pitcher afterward it was good he found a way to win despite the struggle. ‘‘It was battling all the way through,’’ Gonzalez said. ‘‘You see something like this and it shows we wanted to win tonight. We wanted to stop the bleeding. It all started with the bats. We needed a good come back coming back to Oakland.’’ Coco Crisp, Rajai Davis and Gabe Gross all hit RBI sin- gles and Jack Cust drew a bases-loaded walk from Angels starter Scott Kazmir (8-13) in the first to put the A’s ahead. Kazmir lost his third straight start, fourth consecutive decision and eighth decision in nine. Not long ago, these clubs regularly played games that counted in September. Neither is in the playoff chase in the final month of 2010. ‘‘There’s not just one thing that’s going to get everybody going,’’ Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. ‘‘Some guys are having good at-bats and some guys are struggling with some things. There’s been a lot of inconsistency in our offense up to this point.’’ Cliff Pennington added a solo homer in the A’s six-run seventh, his first since April 27 at Tampa Bay. The drive snapped a 105-game and 355 at-bat homerless streak. Pennington knew it had been a while. This time, he knew the ball was gone. ‘‘I wasn’t trying to hit one,’’ he said with a smile. ‘‘I’m not a guy who worries too much about home runs.’’ Oakland avoided matching its worst losing streak of the season, a five-game skid from May 12-16. The A’s bounced back after being swept in a four-game series at New York. Gonzalez allowed singles to Torii Hunter and Juan Rivera in the fourth but got out of the inning unscathed. The Angels didn’t really threaten otherwise. (Continued from page 1B) MCT photo Kazmir struggled from the start and allowed a season- high six walks in 5 2-3 innings. Daric Barton drew a one- out walk in the first, then two batters later Kazmir plunked Kouzmanoff and Mark Ellis consecutively to load the bases. Kazmir received a mound visit from pitching coach Mike Butcher before he faced Ellis. Cust then drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 1-0. ‘‘For the most part I felt like I was fighting myself,’’ Kazmir said. ‘‘The first inning, it just felt like I was trying to do anything I could to get it over the plate. Walks hurt today. When I was warming up it felt like I didn’t have good direction. I was fighting myself to stay in line. After Daric Barton celebrates a run with Eric Chavez and manager Bob Geren, Friday night. the second inning I felt fine.’’ The Angels are still looking for their first consecutive wins since a three-game sweep of Kansas City from Aug. 9-11 — and first on the road since Aug. 6-7 at Detroit. The field was beaten up and hardly looked its best fol- lowing the Oakland Raiders’ preseason finale that ended late Thursday. The outfield was particularly bad, with a huge dirt patch right smack in center field. Neither team took batting practice outside before the game, instead doing their hitting in the indoor cage. Davis stole his 43rd base in the seventh, matching his career high established last season. CARDS Rafa, Venus move on at US Open Corning coach John Studer said. “Those guys are our core.” The work they put in during the first half was more than enough. Nye had 73 yards on 12 carries and touchdown runs of 8 and 1 yard. McIntyre barreled his way to 74 yards on five car- ries with TDs of 3 and 4 yards. Holland, the Cardi- nals’ quarterback, ran for 112 yards on five carries and capped the first half with a 57-yard score with 1:23 left in the first half. Whited added 53 yards on seven carries. The Cardinals could only stop themselves at times. After an interception to gain possession, Corning committed three straight penalties to set up first-and- 46 from their own 7-yard line. Then Nye ran for 20 yards. Holland rolled out on a bootleg for 18 yards. Nye for 2 more. An off- sides penalty on Las Plumas then set up fourth- and-1. Nye squeezed out 3 yards for an improbable first down. “I hope we can blame,” the penalties on Friday’s game being the season- opener, Nye said. “I hope we can put them aside.” Besides cutting down on penalties, the Cardinals need work on their special teams as they missed three extra points, had a bad snap and hold on another and fumbled a punt return. Corning scored six touch- downs and couldn’t convert a single conversion. For Las Plumas, which was in search of its first vic- tory in 23 games, the high- lights weren’t as plentiful. The host Thunderbirds stopped the Cardinals occa- sionally, forcing some fourth downs but only twice did Corning punt, and the Cardinals turned the ball over on downs once. That last change of possession occurred on the first play of the fourth quar- ter, showing Las Plumas was still fighting. “We’re trying to change the mind-sets of the kids,” said Thunderbirds coach A.J. Cahee, who is in his second year in charge of a team that is 3-57 in its past six seasons entering Fri- day’s game. “This program has had seven coaches in six years. We need some stability.” Joseph Shufelberger is a sports writer for the Chico Enterprise-Record. NEW YORK (AP) — Venus Williams brought the glitter. Rafael Nadal brought the grit. On a Friday night that felt like bonus tennis at the U.S. Open, Williams and Nadal performed like play- ers on a mission — maybe trying to outhustle a hurri- cane that never showed, or maybe, in Williams’ case, trying to finish in time to catch the end of cocktail hour. Wearing a black sequined dress she designed as a tribute to New York, the third-seeded Williams out- classed qualifier Mandy Minella of Luxembourg 6-2, 6-1. Also dressed in black from head to toe, the top- seeded Nadal handled the hustle and shotmaking of Denis Istomin with a 6-2, 7- 6 (5), 7-5 victory highlight- ed by Rafa’s rally from 5-1 down in the second-set tiebreaker. Then off into the night they went — closing out the schedule on a day that was billed as a washout in the making but finished without MLB West Division Texas A’s American League WL Pct GB 75 59 .560 — 66 68 .493 9 Angels 65 70 .481 10.5 Seattle 53 82 .393 22.5 East Division WL Pct GB New York 85 50 .630 — Tampa Bay 83 51 .619 1.5 Boston 76 58 .567 8.5 Toronto 69 65 .515 15.5 Baltimore 49 86 .363 36 Central Division WL Pct GB Minnesota 78 57 .578 — Chicago 73 60 .549 4 Detroit 67 68 .496 11 Kansas City 56 78 .418 21.5 Cleveland 54 81 .400 24 ————————————————— Friday’s results Oakland 8,Los Angeles 0 Detroit 9, Kansas City 5, 11 innings Minnesota 4, Texas 3 New York 7, Toronto 3 Seattle 1, Cleveland 0 Tampa Bay 4, Baltimore 1 Chicago at Boston, ppd., rain Saturday’s Games Los Angeles (Jer.Weaver 11-10) at Oakland (Cahill 14-6), 1:10 p.m.,FOX Chicago (Danks 12-9) at Bos.(C.Buchholz 15-5), 10:05 a.m., 1st game Toronto (Rzepczynski 1-3) at New York (Vazquez 10-9), 10:05 a.m. Texas (C.Lewis 9-11) at Minnesota (Pavano 15-10), 1:10 p.m. Tampa Bay (J.Shields 13-11) at Baltimore (Guthrie 8-13), 4:05 p.m. Chicago (Floyd 9-11) at Boston (Lackey 12-8), 4:10 p.m., MLBN Detroit (Porcello 7-11) at Kansas City (Chen 9-7), 4:10 p.m. Cleveland (Talbot 8-11) at Seattle (Pauley 2-6), 7:15 p.m. Sunday’s games Los Angeles at Oakland,1:05 p.m.,CSNC Toronto at New York, 10:05 a.m. Chicago at Boston, 10:35 a.m., TBS Tampa Bay at Baltimore, 10:35 a.m. Detroit at Kansas City, 11:10 a.m. Texas at Minnesota, 11:10 a.m. Cleveland at Seattle, 1:10 p.m. Thursday’s late results Cleveland 6, Seattle 3 Detroit 10, Minnesota 9, 13 innings a hitch, save a 25-minute rain delay in the afternoon that resulted from the small, and only, band from Hurri- cane Earl to sneak into the city. A fortunate turn in the weather for Nadal, who caught the unfortunate end of the tournament’s back- loaded schedule. This was only his second-round match, and to win his first U.S. Open title, he’ll now have to win six times in 10 days. A rainout Friday would have eliminated one of those days of rest. ‘‘That’s the U.S. Open and they do what they think is better, I think, for every- body,’’ Nadal said. ‘‘I accept the rules. If I have to play second round on Friday, I play second round on Fri- day. No discussion of that.’’ Nadal had to dig deep at the end of the second set, after Istomin skidded — and left a 10-foot-mark — then did the splits to get to a drop shot and hit a cross-court backhand winner that will go down as one of the best shots of the tournament. With the crowd going crazy, MLB West Division National League WL Pct GB Padres 76 57 .571 — GIANTS 74 61 .548 3 Colorado 70 64 .522 6.5 Dodgers 69 66 .511 8 Arizona 56 79 .415 21 East Division WL Pct GB Atlanta 78 57 .578 — Philadelphia 77 58 .570 1 Florida 68 65 .511 9 New York 66 69 .489 12 Washington 57 78 .422 21 Central Division WL Pct GB Cincinnati 78 56 .582 — St. Louis 70 62 .530 7 Houston 62 72 .463 16 Milwaukee 62 72 .463 16 Chicago 58 77 .430 20.5 Pittsburgh 45 89 .336 33 ————————————————— Friday’s results Los Angeles 4,San Francisco 2 Arizona 4, Houston 3 Chicago 7, New York 6 Colorado 4, San Diego 3 Florida 6, Atlanta 1 Philadelphia 1, Milwaukee 0 Pittsburgh 8, Washington 5 St. Louis 3, Cincinnati 2 Saturday’s Games San Francisco (M.Cain 10-10) at Los Angeles (Lilly 8-9),7:10 p.m.,CSNB New York (Mejia 0-2) at Chicago (Coleman 1-1), 10:05 a.m., WGN Cincinnati (Tr.Wood 4-2) at St. Louis (Wainwright 17-9), 1:10 p.m. Colorado (Hammel 9-7) at San Diego (Garland 13-9), 1:10 p.m. Milwaukee (Bush 7-11) at Philadelphia (Halladay 16-10), 4:05 p.m. Washington (Lannan 6-6) at Pittsburgh (Maholm 7-13), 4:05 p.m. Atlanta (Jurrjens 6-4) at Florida (Jo.Johnson 11-5), 4:10 p.m. Houston (Norris 6-8) at Arizona (J.Saunders 2-4), 5:10 p.m. Sunday’s games San Francisco at L.A.,5 p.m.,ESPN2 Atlanta at Florida, 9:10 a.m. Milwaukee at Philadelphia, 10:35 a.m. Washington at Pittsburgh, 10:35 a.m. Cincinnati at St. Louis, 11:15 a.m. New York at Chicago, 11:20 a.m., WGN Colorado at San Diego, 1:05 p.m. Houston at Arizona, 1:10 p.m. Nadal also clapped to show his respect ... then went about winning the next six points to take the set. ‘‘He played a great point,’’ Nadal said. ‘‘I think I stayed very well mentally in that moment. I was playing with big calm and big con- centration.’’ Between sets, Istomin needed a break to get his thigh worked on by the trainer. Nadal waited patiently, then went out saved five break points in the third set to close out the match. He won all seven break points he faced on a night when his serve topped out at 134 mph. ‘‘For the moment, it’s working really well,’’ Nadal said. For Williams, there was no such drama — only a methodical victory that spoke to the fact that she’s rounding into shape despite coming into the U.S. Open without much training time, on the mend from a sprained left kneecap. ‘‘It’s something you think about,’’ Williams said. ‘‘But my whole thing was to U.S. OPEN Friday At The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center New York Men’s singles seeds Second Round Rafael Nadal (1), Spain, def. Denis Istomin, Uzbekistan, 6-2, 7-6 (5), 7-5. Andy Murray (4), Britain, def. Dustin Brown, Jamaica, 7-5, 6-3, 6-0. Fernando Verdasco (8), Spain, def. Adrian Mannarino, France, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. David Ferrer (10), Spain, def. Benjamin Becker, Germany, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Mikhail Youzhny (12), Russia, def. Dudi Sela, Israel, 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. Nicolas Almagro (14), Spain, def. Guiller- mo Garcia-Lopez, Spain, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (4). John Isner (18), United States, def. Marco Chiudinelli, Switzerland, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4. Sam Querrey (20), United States, def.Mar- cel Granollers, Spain, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4. Feliciano Lopez (23), Spain, def. Benoit Paire, France, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6- 2. Stanislas Wawrinka (25), Switzerland, def. Juan Ignacio Chela, Argentina, 7-5, 6-3, 6- 4. Philipp Kohlschreiber (29), Germany, lost to Gilles Simon, France, 4-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1, 6-3. David Nalbandian (31), Argentina, def. Flo- rent Serra, France, 7-5, 6-4, 6-2. Women’s singles seeds Third Round Kim Clijsters (2), Belgium, def.Petra Kvito- va (27), Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-0. Venus Williams (3), United States, def. Mandy Minella, Luxembourg, 6-2, 6-1. Sam Stosur (5), Australia, def.Sara Errani, Italy, 6-2, 6-3. Francesca Schiavone (6), Italy, def. Alona Bondarenko (29), Ukraine, 6-1, 7-5. Elena Dementieva (12), Russia, def. Daniela Hantuchova (24), Slovakia, 7-5, 6- 2. Shahar Peer (16), Israel, def. Flavia Pen- netta (19), Italy, 6-4, 6-4. Flavia Pennetta (19), Italy, lost to Shahar Peer (16), Israel, 6-4, 6-4. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (20), Russia, def. Gisela Dulko, Argentina, 6-1, 6-2. Daniela Hantuchova (24), Slovakia, lost to Elena Dementieva (12), Russia, 7-5, 6-2. Petra Kvitova (27), Czech Republic, lost to Kim Clijsters (2), Belgium, 6-3, 6-0. Alona Bondarenko (29), Ukraine, lost to Francesca Schiavone (6), Italy, 6-1, 7-5. MLS WESTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Galaxy 13 5 4 43 32 16 Salt Lake 11 4 7 40 36 16 FC Dallas 9 2 10 37 28 17 Seattle 9 8 5 32 25 26 Colorado 8 6 7 31 25 21 QUAKES 87 5 29 22 22 Houston 6 11 5 23 27 36 Chivas USA 6 11 4 22 23 26 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Columbus 12 5 5 41 31 20 New York 11 7 4 37 27 23 Toronto FC 7 8 6 27 22 25 Kansas City 7 9 5 26 21 23 Chicago 6 7 6 24 27 28 New England 6 12 3 21 21 35 Philadelphia 5 11 5 20 25 37 D.C. 4 15 3 15 15 36 NOTE:Three points for victory, one point for tie. ————————————————— Saturday’s games Kansas City at Philadelphia, 12:30 p.m. Los Angeles at Chicago, 1 p.m. Columbus at D.C. United, 4:30 p.m. Seattle FC at New England, 4:30 p.m. Toronto FC at FC Dallas, 5:30 p.m. Chivas USA at Colorado, 6 p.m. New York at Real Salt Lake, 6 p.m. Sunday’s game San Jose at Houston, 5:30 p.m. WPS Women’s Professional Soccer WL T Pts GF GA y-Gold Pride 14 3 5 47 40 18 x-Boston 10 7 5 35 36 26 x-Philadelphia 10 9 4 34 36 32 Washington 7 8 7 28 31 31 Sky Blue FC 7 10 5 26 20 31 Chicago 6 11 6 24 19 26 Atlanta 5 12 5 20 20 39 NOTE:Three points for victory, one point for tie. x- clinched playoff berth y- clinched conference ————————————————— Sunday’s games Sky Blue FC at Atlanta, 3 p.m. Washington at Chicago, 3 p.m. Boston at FC Gold Pride, 6 p.m. try to bank on my experi- ence, which so far is work- ing.’’ With her injured sister, Serena, looking on from the stands — about the only thing in doubt during this match was who had the bet- ter dress. Serena’s was red and Venus’ was black with silver sequins — a creation of her own design. ‘‘It’s about a celebration of me playing my best, obvi- ously at home, and kind of doing what I love and being able to wear something fun while I do it,’’ she said. Earlier, the day’s best match involved 18-year-old NCAA College Football Saturday’s Top 25 games No.1 Alabama vs. San Jose State, 4 p.m. No.4 Florida vs.Miami (Ohio), 9 a.m., ESPN No. 5 Texas at Rice, 12:30 p.m. No.6 TCU vs. Oregon State at Arlington, Texas, 4:45 p.m., ESPN No.7 Oklahoma vs. Utah State, 4 p.m. No.8 Nebraska vs.Western Kentucky, 4 p.m. No. 9 Iowa vs. Eastern Illinois, 9 a.m. No.11 Oregon vs.New Mexico, 12:30 p.m. No.12 Wisconsin at UNLV, 8 p.m., VERSUS No.16 Georgia Tech vs.S.Caro.St., 10 a.m. No.17 Arkansas vs.Tennessee Tech, 4 p.m. No.18 North Carolina vs.No.21 LSU at Atlanta, 5 p.m., ABC No.19 Penn State vs.Youngstown St., 9 a.m. No. 20 Florida State vs. Samford, 9 a.m. No.22 Auburn vs. Arkansas State, 4 p.m. No.23 Ga.vs.La-Lafayette, 9:20 a.m., CSNC No.25 West Vir.vs.Coastal Caro., 12:30 p.m. Saturday’s televised games W.Michigan at Michigan St., 9 a.m., ESPN2 Illinois at Missouri, 9:30 a.m., CSNB Sacra.State at Stanford, 12:30 p.m., CSNB UCLA at Kansas State, 12:30 p.m., ABC Connecticut at Michigan, 12:30 p.m., ESPN2 Purdue at Notre Dame, 12:30 p.m., NBC Washington State at Okla.St., 4 p.m., FSN Northwestern at Vanderbilt, 4:30 p.m., CSNB Cincinnati at Fresno St., 7 p.m., ESPN2 Sunday’s televised games Tulsa at East Carolina, 11 a.m., ESPN2 SMUat Texas Tech, 12:30 p.m., ESPN Monday’s Top 25 game No. 3 Boise State vs.No. 10 Virginia Tech at Landover, Md., 5 p.m. Thursday’s late Top 25 result No. 14 Southern Cal 49, Hawaii 36 WNBA CONFERENCE FINALS Eastern Conference Atlanta vs. New York Sunday: at New York, 4 p.m., NBATV Tuesday: at Atlanta, 4:30 p.m. x-Thursday: at New York, 4:30 p.m. Western Conference Seattle 1, Phoenix 0 Game 1:Seattle 82, Phoenix 74 Sunday: at Phoenix, Noon, ABC Wednesday: at Seattle, 7 p.m. American Ryan Harrison, who couldn’t convert on any of his three match points in a fifth-set tiebreaker and lost . North Division GOLDEN Golden League WL Pct. GB Calgary 27 15 .643 — OUTLAWS 21 17 .553 4 Victoria 22 18 .550 4 Edmonton 19 21 .475 7 St. George 8 27 .229 15.5 South Division Orange Co. 28 8 .778 — Maui Tucson 26 19 .578 6.5 Yuma WL Pct. GB 24 7 .774 1.5 14 26 .350 16 Tijuana 2 32 .059 25 ————————————————— Friday’s results Calgary 20, Tijuana 5 Edmonton 8, Victoria 5 Tucson 12, Yuma 4 Orange County at Maui, late Saturday’s games St. George at Chico, 7 p.m. Orange County at Maui, 9:35 p.m. Calgary at Tijuana, 7 p.m. Edmonton at Victoria, 7 p.m. Yuma at Tucson, 7 p.m. Sunday’s Games St. George at Chico, 7 p.m. Edmonton at Victoria, 1:30 p.m. Orange County at Maui, 7:05 p.m., 1st game Orange County at Maui, 9:35 p.m., 2nd game Calgary at Tijuana, 7 p.m. PGA Deutsche Bank Championship At the TPC Boston Norton, Mass. Purse: $7.5 million Yardage: 7,214;Par 71 (36-35) Sat, Noon, TGC; Sun, Noon, NBC First Round Leaders Jason Day Zach Johnson 32-31 — 63 -8 Ryan Moore Ryan Palmer Rory McIlroy 33-30 — 63 -8 33-31 — 64 -7 32-32 — 64 -7 33-31 — 64 -7 Hunter Mahan 30-34 — 64 -7 Charley Hoffman 31-33 — 64 -7 Brian Davis D.J.Trahan Geoff Ogilvy 33-31 — 64 -7 33-31 — 64 -7 32-32 — 64 -7