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2B – Daily News – Tuesday, October 12, 2010 SMITH Continued from page 1B from them. We don’t have time to play around and just make careless mistakes. We’ve got to go. It’s about that time.’’ There were no apparent hard feelings on Carr’s part, even though Singletary didn’t alert him that he’d changed his mind to stick with Smith. The 49ers signed Carr — another former No. 1 pick — in March to be Smith’s backup, and Single- tary never expected him to compete for the top job. ‘‘It really wasn’t as big a deal for me to get ready and go in and then not to go again,’’ Carr said. ‘‘I kind of stay ready to go in, so mentally I kind of pre- pare myself for that situation.’’ Smith let it go in the two late scoring drives Sun- day, hitting Davis on a 7-yard TD and Gore on a 1-yard scoring strike. He looked more at ease in those final series than he has most of the season. Even Singletary acknowledged that Smith was- n’t ‘‘pressing’’ for a change. This is the same quar- terback Singletary promoted at halftime last Oct. 25 at Houston, benching then-starter Shaun Hill. ‘‘There are times out there that I know that I play too cautious,’’ Smith said. ‘‘I think that’s when I find myself making those mistakes. It’s funny. It’s coun- terproductive. You’d think playing cautious would lead the other way, but in me, it always has. You see at times when I cut it loose and play more fearless and the results have always been better.’’ Nobody is pointing the blame at Smith. It’s been problems on both sides of the ball and special teams that has San Francisco in a serious hole. Team president Jed York hasn’t lost any faith. He told ESPN, ‘‘We’re going to win the division.’’ Sin- gletary and the players appreciate it. The 49ers still have five games against the West, including two dates with the first-place Arizona Car- dinals. ‘‘It’s felt like a whole season already, considering that we haven’t won a game,’’ All Pro linebacker Patrick Willis said. ‘‘It makes the days feel long, it makes the weeks feel long. In reality, we’re 0-5, that’s what it is. Reality, too, is that we have a chance to get this right. We’re down, we’re deep in a hole right now. It seems deeper than what it is. I think we’re capable of getting out of it. I really do. I refuse to not believe in getting ourselves out of what we got ourselves into.’’ RAIDERS Continued from page 1B driving for a field goal at the end of the first half. After a brief drive by Gradkows- ki at the start of the third quarter, Campbell went back out and was unable to generate a first down on his initial drive of the second half. Then he finally showed why the Raiders traded for him in the offsea- son to replace Russell as the quar- terback the Raiders looked to build around. Campbell put together a 12-play, 97 yard drive capped by a 1-yard TD pass to Zach Miller to get the Raiders back in the game. He con- verted a third-and-1 sneak and threw a 58-yard pass to Louis Murphy on the drive. Then on his next drive, Campbell drove the Raiders 73 yards in 14 plays for the go-ahead score on GIANTS Continued from page 1B his postseason debut. The Phillies and Giants split six games this season. ‘‘I can’t say enough about our pitching,’’ Ross said. ‘‘They keep us in it the whole time. We just need to score a few.’’ The Braves couldn’t blame this one on Brooks Conrad. Shortstop Alex Gonzalez made a couple of errors — including a high throw in the decisive seventh that got Ross to the plate with two outs. He delivered a bases-loaded single to left, driving in the tiebreaking run. Gonzalez also got caught loafing down the line in the eighth after hit- ting a soft liner toward shortstop — violating one of Cox’s few rules (always play hard). Edgar Renteria dropped it, but still threw out Gonzalez easily at first. Conrad didn’t start after making three errors in Game 3, which the Braves were one out from win- ning to take the lead in the series. The last of those let in the winning run of San Francisco’s 3-2 victory, a stunning turnaround that gave the upper hand back to the Giants. They didn’t let it slip away, even after falling behind twice in Game 4 with rookie Madison Bumgarner on the mound. The 21-year-old lefty pitched like a veteran, allowing six hits and two runs in six innings. Missing Chipper Jones and Martin Prado from an offense that wasn’t all that strong to begin with, the Braves simply didn’t have Michael Bush’s 3-yard run with 3:43 to play. Campbell converted a key third-and-11 with a 13-yard pass to Miller and hit Brandon Myers with a 12-yard pass on fourth-and-1 to set up the go-ahead score. ‘‘When you can get that kind of production from a guy who’s been standing for a couple weeks now and then comes out and gets into rhythm like that, that’s what you’re hoping for,’’ Cable said. ‘‘A job well done by him but by everybody on offense during those two drives.’’ Campbell needed to take only one more snap, a kneel-down that capped Oakland’s first victory over its AFC West rival since 2003. This marked the third straight win for the Raiders where the win- ning score was generated by the backup quarterback, including Rus- sell’s comeback in Denver last sea- son after Charlie Frye was injured. Cable said he’d prefer not to enough bats to extend Cox’s career. Heyward had his first two hits of the series but still batted .125. As a team, Atlanta man- aged just 24 hits in the four games. Lowe did all he could for the Braves, turning in a gutsy performance on three days’ rest. He blanked the Giants with- out a hit over the first 5 1- 3 innings, but Ross struck in the sixth with a liner to left that barely cleared the wall. Just like that, it was 1-all on San Francisco’s first hit of the night. Brian McCann, who had a sacrifice fly in the third to give Atlanta its first lead of the series before the eighth inning, struck again in the sixth. He led off with a shot over the wall in right to quickly restore the Braves’ lead. But Lowe — working hard, muttering to himself and sweating profusely on an unseasonably warm night — finally ran out of gas in the seventh. With one out, Aubrey Huff drew a walk from Lowe. Buster Posey fol- lowed by topping one toward third baseman Troy Glaus, who was essentially Conrad’s replacement but can bare- ly move because of a sore knee. Posey beat it out without even drawing a throw. Cox walked slowly toward the mound as though he was going to make a change, but he wanted to ask Lowe how he felt. The pitcher nod- ded his head and Cox left him in the game, drawing a huge cheer from the crowd. But the Giants stayed patient against the tiring make in-game changes but pointed out the Raiders have had success in the past with it when George Blanda led comebacks in relief of Daryle Lamonica. ‘‘There is some history there,’’ Cable said. ‘‘So it’s not like it hasn’t been done here before. You’d like your quarterback to be able and go out and consistently do it. We’ve had two situations now where it worked in our favor, but again I just think it’s a good problem to have two quality players.’’ Notes: Cable said the injury to RB Darren McFadden (hamstring) is improving and he would have a better idea Wednesday if he would be able to return this week. ... Cable said there’s a ‘‘great chance’’ OL Robert Gallery could return for the first time since injuring his ham- string in the season opener. ... WR Chaz Schilens is not close to return- ing from a knee injury that was sup- posed to have healed by now. Scoreboard MLB 2010 Postseason Baseball Glance By The Associated Press All Times EDT DIVISION SERIES American League Tampa Bay vs. Texas Wednesday, Oct. 6 Texas 5, Tampa Bay 1 Thursday, Oct. 7 Texas 6, Tampa Bay 0 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), 8:07 p.m. Minnesota vs. New York Wednesday, Oct. 6 New York 6, Minnesota 4 Thursday, Oct. 7 New York 5, Minnesota 2 Saturday, Oct. 9 New York 6, Minnesota 1, New York wins series 3-0 National League Philadelphia vs. Cincinnati Wednesday, Oct. 6 Philadelphia 4, Cincinnati 0 Friday, Oct. 8 Philadelphia 7, Cincinnati 4 Sunday, Oct. 10 Philadelphia 2, Cincinnati 0, Philadelphia wins series 3-0 San Francisco vs. Atlanta Thursday, Oct. 7 San Francisco 1, Atlanta 0 Friday, Oct. 8 Atlanta 5, San Francisco 4, 11 innings Sunday, Oct. 10 San Francisco 3, Atlanta 2 Monday, Oct. 11 San Francisco 3, Atlanta 2, San Francis- co wins series 3-1 LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES American League Friday, Oct. 15 New York (Sabathia 21-7) at Tampa Bay- Texas winner Saturday, Oct. 16 New York (Pettitte 11-3 or Hughes 18-8) at Tampa Bay-Texas winner Monday, Oct. 18 Tampa Bay-Texas winner at New York (Hughes 18-8 or Pettitte 11-3) Tuesday, Oct. 19 Tampa Bay-Texas winner at New York (Burnett 10-15) Wednesday, Oct. 20 Tampa Bay-Texas winner at New York, if necessary Friday, Oct. 22 New York at Tampa Bay-Texas winner, if necessary Saturday, Oct. 23 New York at Tampa Bay-Texas winner, if necessary National League Saturday, Oct. 16 San Francisco (Lincecum 16-10) at Philadelphia (Halladay 21-10) Sunday, Oct. 17 San Francisco (Cain 13-11) at Philadel- phia (Oswalt 13-13) Tuesday, Oct. 19 Philadelphia (Hamels 12-11) at San Fran- cisco (Sanchez 13-9) Wednesday, Oct. 20 Philadelphia at San Francisco Thursday, Oct. 21 Philadelphia at San Francisco, if neces- sary Saturday, Oct. 23 San Francisco at Philadelphia, if neces- sary Sunday, Oct. 24 San Francisco at Philadelphia, if neces- sary WORLD SERIES Wednesday, Oct. 27 American League at National League, 4:57 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 28 AL at NL, 4:57 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 30 NL at AL, 3:57 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 31 NL at AL, 5:20 p.m. Monday, Nov. 1 NL at AL, if necessary, 4:57 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 3 AL at NL, if necessary, 4:57 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 4 AL at NL, if necessary, 4:57 p.m. NBA Preseason Glance By The Associated Press All Times EDT EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL Pct GB Boston 3 0 1.000— New Jersey 2 1 .667 1 Toronto 1 1 .5001 1/2 New York 0 1 .000 2 Philadelphia 0 3 .000 3 Southeast Division WL Pct GB Orlando 3 0 1.000— Miami 2 1 .667 1 Washington 2 1 .667 1 Atlanta 0 2 .0002 1/2 Charlotte 0 3 .000 3 Central Division Cleveland 3 1 .750 — Detroit WL Pct GB 2 1 .667 1/2 Milwaukee 2 1 .667 1/2 Chicago 1 2 .3331 1/2 Indiana 0 3 .0002 1/2 WESTERN CONFERENCE Southwest Division WL Pct GB Memphis 3 0 1.000— Houston 2 2 .5001 1/2 San Antonio 1 1 .5001 1/2 Dallas New Orleans0 2 .0002 1/2 Northwest Division WL Pct GB Minnesota 2 0 1.000— Denver 1 0 1.000 1/2 Utah 1 0 1.000 1/2 Oklahoma City 1 1 .500 1 Portland 1 2 .3331 1/2 Pacific Division WL Pct GB Golden State2 0 1.000— L.A. Clippers1 2 .3331 1/2 Phoenix 1 2 .3331 1/2 Sacramento 1 2 .3331 1/2 L.A. Lakers 0 1 .0001 1/2 ——— Sunday’s Games Orlando 135, New Orleans 81 Boston 91, Toronto 87 Cleveland 99, Houston 93 Golden State 95, Sacramento 86 Monday’s Games Detroit 94, Atlanta 85 Cleveland 85, Dallas 79 Utah vs. Portland at Portland, OR, 10 p.m. Tuesday’s Games Atlanta at Washington, 7 p.m. Boston at Philadelphia, 7 p.m. Toronto at Chicago, 8 p.m. Denver at Minnesota, 8 p.m. Memphis vs. Oklahoma City at Tulsa, OK, 8 p.m. San Antonio vs. L.A. Clippers at Mexico City, Mexico, 9:30 p.m. Utah at Phoenix, 10 p.m. Golden State at Sacramento, 10 p.m. Wednesday’s Games New Jersey vs. Houston at Beijing, China, 8 a.m. Dallas vs. Detroit at Grand Rapids, MI, 7 p.m. Minnesota at Indiana, 7 p.m. Philadelphia at Toronto, 7 p.m. Boston at New York, 7:30 p.m. Miami at New Orleans, 8 p.m. Sacramento vs. L.A. Lakers at Las Vegas, NV, 10 p.m. NHL At A Glance By The Associated Press 1 3 .2502 1/2 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA Philadelphia 3 2 0 1 5 86 N.Y. Islanders 2 1 0 1 310 9 N.Y. Rangers2 1 1 0 2 109 Pittsburgh 3 1 2 0 2 77 New Jersey 3 0 2 1 1 614 Northeast Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA Toronto 2 2 0 0 4 83 Boston 2 1 1 0 2 55 Montreal 2 1 1 0 2 55 Buffalo 3 1 2 0 2 811 Ottawa 3 0 2 1 1 410 Southeast Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA Carolina 2 2 0 0 4 64 Washington 3 2 1 0 4 128 Tampa Bay 1 1 0 0 2 53 Atlanta 2 1 1 0 2 77 Florida 1 0 1 0 0 23 WESTERN CONFERENCE Central Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA Detroit 2 2 0 0 4 72 St. Louis 2 2 0 0 4 72 Chicago 3 1 1 1 3 910 Nashville 1 1 0 0 2 41 Columbus 2 1 1 0 2 55 Northwest Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA Edmonton 2 2 0 0 4 72 Calgary 2 1 1 0 2 35 Colorado 2 1 1 0 2 67 Vancouver 1 0 0 1 1 12 Minnesota 2 0 1 1 1 46 Pacific Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA Dallas 2 2 0 0 4 97 San Jose 2 1 0 1 3 55 Los Angeles 2 1 1 0 2 34 Phoenix 2 1 1 0 2 55 Anaheim 3 0 3 0 0 213 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. Sunday’s Games Boston 3, Phoenix 0 Calgary 3, Los Angeles 1 Edmonton 3, Florida 2 Monday’s Games N.Y. Islanders 6, N.Y. Rangers 4 St. Louis 5, Anaheim 1 Pittsburgh 3, New Jersey 1 Chicago 4, Buffalo 3 Philadelphia 4, Colorado 2 Washington 3, Ottawa 2, OT Florida at Vancouver, late Tuesday’s Games Colorado at Detroit, 4:30 p.m. Atlanta at Los Angeles, 5:30 p.m. Wednesday’s Games New Jersey at Buffalo, 4 p.m. N.Y. Islanders at Washington, 4 p.m. Tampa Bay at Montreal, 4:30 p.m. Toronto at Pittsburgh, 4:30 p.m. Nashville at Chicago, 5:30 p.m. Vancouver at Anaheim, 7 p.m. MLS At A Glance By The Associated Press All Times EDT EASTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA x-New York 14 8 6 48 35 27 x-Columbus 13 8 7 46 35 31 Kansas City 9 12 6 33 30 33 Chicago 8 11 8 32 33 35 Toronto FC 8 13 7 31 28 37 Philadelphia 7 14 7 28 32 45 New England7 15 5 26 29 47 D.C. 6 19 3 21 19 44 WESTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA x-Los Angeles 17 6 5 56 4122 x-Real Salt Lake14 4 10 52 4118 x-FC Dallas 12 2 14 50 41 24 Seattle 13 9 6 45 36 32 San Jose 12 8 7 43 30 28 Colorado 11 8 9 42 39 29 Chivas USA 8 15 4 28 29 36 Houston 7 14 6 27 36 46 NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie. x- clinched playoff berth ——— Thursday’s Games Los Angeles 1, Philadelphia 0 Friday’s Games Chicago 2, Columbus 0 Saturday’s Games New York 0, Real Salt Lake 0, tie FC Dallas 2, Colorado 2, tie San Jose 2, D.C. United 0 Seattle FC 2, Kansas City 1 Chivas USA 3, Toronto FC 0 Sunday’s Games New England at Houston, 8:30 p.m. Tuesday’s Games Kansas City at Chicago, 8:30 p.m. Friday, October 15 Chivas USA at Seattle FC, 11 p.m. Saturday, October 16 Columbus at Toronto FC, 4 p.m. D.C. United at Chicago, 4 p.m. New York at Philadelphia, 6 p.m. Kansas City at New England, 8 p.m. FC Dallas at Real Salt Lake, 9 p.m. Houston at San Jose, 10 p.m. Colorado at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m. MOVES By The Associated Press BASEBALL National League ATLANTA BRAVES—Purchased the contract of 1B/DH Christopher Garcia from Shreveport-Bossier (AA). CHICAGO CUBS—Announced pitch- ing coach Larry Rothschild has exer- cised his contract option for next sea- son. Eastern League READING PHILLIES—Named Anthony Pignetti client relationship manager/events and Todd Hunsicker educational programs and youth coor- dinator. BASKETBALL National Basketball Association NBA—Fined Portland G Rudy Fernan- dez $50,000 for public statements detrimental to the NBA. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS—Waived F Vernon Goodridge. MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES—Waived F Luke Jackson, G Tre Kelley and G Kenny Thomas. PHOENIX SUNS—Waived G Chucky Atkins. PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS—Signed C Steven Hill. SAN ANTONIO SPURS—Waived G Kirk Penney. FOOTBALL National Football League BUFFALO BILLS—Activated TE Shawn Nelson from the suspended list. Released LB Chris Ellis. CAROLINA PANTHERS—Claimed WR Devin Thomas off waivers from Wash- ington.Waived OL Tim Duckworth. HOCKEY National Hockey League ANAHEIM DUCKS—Signed D Andreas Lilja to a one-year contract. ATLANTA THRASHERS—Reassigned G Drew MacIntyre to Chicago (AHL). Recalled G Peter Mannino from Chica- go. COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS— Assigned G David LeNeveau to Springfield (AHL). DETROIT RED WINGS—Signed coach Mike Babcock to a four-year contract extension. LOS ANGELES KINGS—Signed presi- dent of business operations Luc Robitaille to a multiyear contract extension. Promoted Chris McGowan to chief operating officer. SAN JOSE SHARKS—Assigned C Tommy Wingels to Worcester (AHL). Lowe. Pat Burrell worked the count to 3-1, then Lowe threw a pitch that darted toward the inside corner. A little too far inside. Ball four. Lowe threw out his arms, practically pleading with home plate umpire Mike Winters for the call. Cox emerged slowly from the dugout a second time, this time to make the change. Lowe bent over behind the mound, then walked toward Cox to hand him the ball and kept on going toward the club- house. Peter Moylan, a ground-ball specialist, came on to face Juan Uribe. The Braves got what they wanted, only the grounder was between third base and shortstop. Glaus didn’t even make an attempt, Gonzalez made a backhanded grab and threw toward second for the force. But the throw was a lit- tle high, and Omar Infante had to reach up to get it. He had no shot at the dou- ble play — and the Braves wound up getting no one when umpire Ed Hickox ruled that Infante had pulled his right foot off the bag a split-second before catching the ball. Replays were inconclusive on a call that left the bases loaded with one out. Jonny Venters, the third pitcher of the inning, struck out pinch-hitter Aaron Rowand on a wicked slider. But Ross came through with another big hit, grounding one into the hole out of Gonzalez’s reach to bring home the go-ahead run. Matt Diaz prevented the Braves from falling even farther behind when he made a strong throw to beat the slow-running Burrell, who was tagged out by McCann in a colli- sion at the plate. But 3-2 was good enough for the Giants’ bullpen. Santiago Casilla worked 1 2-3 innings, Javier Lopez struck out Jason Heyward to end the eighth and Brian Wilson got three outs in the ninth for the save, pitching around a couple of walks. Then it was time to cel- ebrate a playoff victory, while not forgetting Cox’s career. ‘‘He’s the best manager for me that’s ever man- aged the game,’’ Ross said. ‘‘I got a chance to play against him for five years. I love coming in here seeing him. I want to congratulate the Braves on a fine season and him on a great career.’’ NOTES: After drawing a standing-room crowd of more than 53,000 for Game 3 — the first post- season contest at Turner Field in five years — there were thousands of empty seats in the upper deck for this one. The announced attendance was 44,532. ... The Braves’ last win in an elimination contest was Game 7 of the 1996 NLCS, when they routed St. Louis 15-0 in the final season at old Atlanta-Ful- ton County Stadium. The team moved right across the street to Turner Field the following year. ... San Francisco, making its first playoff appearance since 2003, won its first postsea- son series since beating St. Louis 4-1 in the 2002 NL championship. San Fran- cisco went on to lose to the Angels in a seven- game World Series. Jets overcome Favre’s milestone night 29-20 EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Brett Favre brushed off a miserable start with a milestone night that almost led Minnesota back, but Dwight Lowery returned an interception 26 yards for a touchdown with 1:30 left as the New York Jets (4-1) beat the Vikings 29-20 on Monday night. Favre became the first NFL player to throw 500 touchdown passes and for 70,000 yards, but two early fumbles against his former team led to two field goals that helped put the Vikings (1-3) in a 12-0 hole. Favre’s big night came hours after he apologized to teammates for the distraction caused by an NFL investigation into allegations that he sent racy mes- sages and lewd photos to a Jets game hostess in 2008. He connected with Randy Moss from 37 yards out late in the third to cut the Jets’ lead to 12-7. Less than 5 minutes later, Favre hit Percy Harvin for a 34- yard touchdown. Favre’s 2-point conversion try was intercepted. Kickoff was delayed twice due to heavy rain and lightning in the area.