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2B – Daily News – Monday, October 11, 2010 GIANTS Continued from page 1B ‘‘I’ve never experienced that range of emotions on a baseball field,’’ Atlanta outfielder Matt Diaz said. The wild finish over- shadowed Sanchez’s bril- liant performance — he didn’t allow a hit until the sixth — and Hinske’s dra- matic homer, which carried the Braves to within one strike of having a chance to close out the series at Turn- er Field. The gaffes by Conrad cost them. He was one of the last guys to make the Braves roster out of spring training and spent his first full year in the majors. Conrad was primarily a backup, though he did provide one of the season’s most dramatic moments with a pinch-hit grand slam that capped a seven-run ninth inning and a 10-9 victory over Cincin- nati in May. Then Jones hurt his knee, and an injury finished off Prado for the season, too. Down the stretch, the Braves were forced to go with Conrad at third base. His defense was so shaky that Cox swapped him with Omar Infante before the crucial last game of the regular season with the Braves trying to wrap up the wild card, moving Conrad to second because he was having trouble mak- ing accurate throws from third. His arm wasn’t the problem in Game 3. Freddy Sanchez provid- ed a key hit for the Giants, smacking a two-strike sin- gle to center to keep them alive in the ninth. Kimbrel was replaced by Dunn, another rookie, who threw a slider that Huff yanked into right field to bring home Travis Ishikawa. Peter Moylan took over for Dunn and got what he’s known for: a ground ball from Posey. It went right through Conrad. Sanchez and Atlanta starter Tim Hudson had quite a pitchers’ duel. The lone run off Hudson came after Mike Fontenot led off the second with a triple to right. Jason Heyward raced back to the wall and had the ball in his glove, but it popped out when he slammed hard into the padding. Cody Ross followed with a popup into short right. Heyward might have made an attempt on it, but he got a late break and was- n’t charging that hard, per- haps still a bit groggy from his collision with the wall. But Conrad, looking back into the setting sun and run- ning hard, got there in time to make the catch — only to have the ball pop out of his glove. Fontenot, who wasn’t tagging, raced in with the first run while Conrad fum- bled for the ball. Sanchez was nearly as dominant as Tim Lincecum in a two-hit, 14-strikeout performance that carried San Francisco to a 1-0 vic- tory in the series opener. The left-hander baffled the Braves with a slider, strik- ing out 14 and holding them hitless until Hudson, of all people, singled to right in the sixth. Nothing came of that. Then, after Alex Gonza- lez started the eighth with a single and Conrad — in yet another blunder — popped up a bunt, Hinske connect- ed. It was in the eighth when Giants manager Bruce Bochy appeared to make another ill-fated call to a bullpen that coughed up a 4-1 lead in Game 2 at San Francisco. The Braves rallied to tie that one, then won it 5-4 on Rick Ankiel’s 11th-inning homer into McCovey Cove. This time, it was Hinske who delivered. He fought back from an 0-2 count before hitting a line drive into the right-field corner that sent the standing-room crowd of 53,284 into a frenzy. The next inning, there was nothing but stunned silence except for those who mustered the energy to boo Conrad. Cox is known for defending his players more than perhaps any other manager, but even he might be forced to make a change at second base. The only other middle infielder on the roster is little-used rookie Diory Hernandez. ‘‘I’ll have to sleep on it,’’ was all Cox would say when asked if Conrad would stay in the lineup. Bochy made no apolo- gies for the way his team pulled it out. ‘‘To come back like that after a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth, I mean, that can take the wind out of your sails,’’ he said. ‘‘And these guys came right back and found a way to get it done. That is a great win.’’ Notes: President Jimmy Carter and former Braves owner Ted Turner attended the game, wearing Atlanta caps. ... Conrad was the first player in franchise his- tory to make three errors in a postseason game. In an interesting twist, the previ- ous player to do it was for- mer Atlanta shortstop Rafael Furcal with the Dodgers in Game 5 of the 2008 NLCS. RAIDERS Continued from page 1B ond half led by backup quarterback Jason Campbell, and the play at the end by Branch and Michael Huff for their first win over the Chargers (2-3) in more than seven years. That was the second-longest active streak to Buffalo’s 14-game slide against New England. While only a handful of players endured all 13 loss- es, even the newcomers felt how big an albatross the skid had become. ‘‘It definitely meant a lot, just seeing the guys on the sideline, how hard they were fighting,’’ said Campbell, who replaced an injured Bruce Gradkowski. ‘‘The one thing I said was, ’You didn’t give up.’ And guys said maybe in years past they would have tucked it in, but this time they didn’t.’’ After Michael Bush gave the Raiders a 29-28 lead with a 3-yard TD run with 3:39 remaining, the Chargers were driving, something they did in beating Oakland in the 2009 season opener. Unable to cover the Chargers’ tal- ented receivers, the Raiders blitzed on play after play. Huff beat Darren Spro- les and got to Rivers to hit him just before his arm went forward, knocking the ball loose. Branch raced for the score to make it 35-27 with 58 seconds left. ‘‘I knew I had to beat the one on one,’’ Huff said. ‘‘I had to beat Sproles. I did that and just got a hand up and luckily I hit his arm. Once I saw Tyvon running I knew he wasn’t going to get caught, so I started celebrating.’’ When referee Clete Blakeman upheld the call on replay, years of frus- tration were let out by the small but enthusiastic crowd of Raiders fans. Rivers threw for 431 yards and two touchdowns and Malcom Floyd had a career-high 213 yards receiving, but the Chargers have only themselves to blame for their third straight road loss this season, losing three fumbles deep in Raiders territory. The last one was biggest. ‘‘They did a good job of bringing 49ERS Continued from page 1B tacklers and ball-faking with a slickness that recalled Vick at his elusive best. McCoy made a 29-yard scoring run shortly before halftime for the Eagles, who stayed even with Washing- ton and the New York Giants atop the NFC East. After David Akers missed a 53-yard field goal on the first snap of the fourth MCT photo Raiders’tight end Zach Miller (80) catches a touchdown pass in the third quarter against the Chargers, Sunday. some pressure and we tried to do some stuff to handle it, tried to get another completion or two to give ourselves the position to kick it, and they were able to make the plays to keep it out of the end zone, keep us from getting to where we needed to be,’’ Rivers said. The Chargers have allowed four special teams touchdowns in those three losses, including a TD and a safe- ty following the two blocked punts after their first two drives of the game. Campbell, benched halfway through the second game, came in after Gradkowski injured his right shoulder after being hit by Shaun Phillips late in the first quarter. Campbell completed 13 of 18 pass- es for 159 yards and a 1-yard touch- down to Zach Miller, leading drives of 93 and 73 yards in the second half to give the Raiders the lead. Bush ran for 104 yards in place of injured Darren McFadden. Rivers’ 41-yard touchdown pass to Floyd midway through the third quar- ter gave the Chargers a 24-15 lead. The quarter, the 49ers drove past midfield before Smith fum- bled while running back- ward under pressure from Brandon Graham. Mikell picked up the ball and made an untouched run to the end zone for the first defensive touchdown of his eight-year career. When Smith came out to run the 49ers’ offense on the next possession, the crowd hit him with perhaps the loudest boos of his tumul- tuous six seasons in San Francisco. After three MLB DIVISION SERIES American League Tampa Bay vs.Texas Saturday, Oct. 9 Tampa Bay 6, Texas 3 Sunday, Oct. 10 Tampa Bay 5, Texas 2, series tied 2-2 Tuesday, Oct. 12 Texas (Cl.Lee 12-9) at Tampa Bay (Price 19-6), 5:07 p.m. Minnesota vs. New York Saturday, Oct. 9 New York 6, Minnesota 1, New York wins series 3-0 National League Philadelphia vs. Cincinnati Sunday, Oct. 10 Philadelphia 2, Cincinnati 0, Philadelphia wins series 3-0 San Francisco vs. Atlanta Sunday, Oct. 10 San Francisco 3, Atlanta 2, San Francis- co leads series 2-1 Monday, Oct. 11 San Francisco (Bumgarner 7-6) at Atlanta (D.Lowe 16-12), 4:37 p.m. NFL At A Glance By The Associated Press AMERICAN CONFERENCE East WL T Pct PF PA N.Y. Jets 3 1 0 .750 106 61 New England3 1 0 .750 131 96 Miami 2 2 0 .500 66 92 Buffalo 0 5 0 .000 87 161 South WL T Pct PF PA Houston 3 2 0 .600 118 136 Jacksonville 3 2 0 .600 107 137 Tennessee 3 2 0 .600 132 95 Indianapolis 3 2 0 .600 136 101 North WL T Pct PF PA Baltimore 4 1 0 .800 92 72 Pittsburgh 3 1 0 .750 86 50 Raiders responded with the 97-yard drive. Campbell converted a third-and- 1 sneak and then connected on a 58- yard pass to Louis Murphy. The Raiders answered again after a field goal by Nate Kaeding early in the fourth quarter with their final drive. The Chargers got off to a terrible start, having the two punts blocked in the first quarter, leading to a safety and touchdown for Oakland. They also lost a pair of fumbles deep in Raiders terri- tory to fall into an early 12-0 hole. But they still managed a 17-15 lead when Rivers drove them to a 43-yard field goal by Kaeding in the closing seconds of the half. Rock Cartwright burst through the middle for the first block against Mike Scifres, knocking the ball out of the end zone for a safety. The free kick out of bounds led to a field goal that made it 5-0, and Brandon Myers blocked Scifres’ second punt into Hiram Eugene’s hands for a touchdown that made it 12-0 less than five minutes into the game. incomplete passes, the chants of ‘‘We want Carr!’’ — for backup David Carr — echoed throughout the stadi- um. Smith and Singletary then were seen in an animat- ed exchange on the sideline, but Smith went back on the field with the San Francisco offense. Smith immediately led a 69-yard scoring drive promi- nently featuring Davis, who caught a 36-yard pass and a pinpoint 7-yard TD throw with 7:35 to play, trimming SCOREBOARD Cincinnati 2 3 0 .400 100 102 Cleveland 1 4 0 .200 78 97 West WL T Pct PF PA Kansas City 3 1 0 .750 77 57 Raiders 2 3 0 .400 111 134 Denver 2 3 0 .400 104 116 San Diego 2 3 0 .400 140 106 NATIONAL CONFERENCE East WL T Pct PF PA Washington 3 2 0 .600 89 92 N.Y. Giants 3 2 0 .600 106 98 Philadelphia 3 2 0 .600 122 103 Dallas South 1 3 0 .250 81 87 WL T Pct PF PA Atlanta 4 1 0 .800 113 70 Tampa Bay 3 1 0 .750 74 80 New Orleans3 2 0 .600 99 102 Carolina 0 5 0 .000 52 110 North WL T Pct PF PA Chicago 4 1 0 .800 92 74 Green Bay 3 2 0 .600 119 89 Minnesota 1 2 0 .333 43 38 Detroit West 1 4 0 .200 126 112 WL T Pct PF PA Arizona 3 2 0 .600 88 138 Seattle 2 2 0 .500 75 77 St. Louis 2 3 0 .400 83 96 49ers 0 5 0 .000 76 130 Sunday’s Games Detroit 44, St. Louis 6 Baltimore 31, Denver 17 N.Y. Giants 34, Houston 10 Washington 16, Green Bay 13, OT Chicago 23, Carolina 6 Atlanta 20, Cleveland 10 Jacksonville 36, Buffalo 26 Tampa Bay 24, Cincinnati 21 Indianapolis 19, Kansas City 9 Arizona 30, New Orleans 20 Tennessee 34, Dallas 27 Oakland 35, San Diego 27 Philadelphia 27, San Francisco 24 Open: Miami, New England, Pittsburgh, Seattle Monday’s Game Minnesota at N.Y. Jets, 5:30 p.m. the Eagles’ lead to seven points. Kolb then led a drive capped by Akers’ 45-yard field goal with 4:35 left, but Ted Ginn Jr.’s 61-yard kick- off return set up Smith’s swing pass to Gore for a 1- yard TD with 2:02 left. Philadelphia immediate- ly made a three-and-out drive featuring a curious incompletion on third down, giving the ball back to Smith with 1:28 left. Support our classrooms, keep kids reading. 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