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Sports 1B Friday October 11, 2013 49ers' Boldin to face former Arizona team SANTA CLARA (AP) — His black hooded sweatshirt pulled over his head and covering most of his face, Anquan Boldin stood at his locker Thursday staring back at a dozen or so reporters with a serious expression. No reason to dress up or soak in the spotlight. Boldin said it's ''just another week.'' Sure it is. The wide receiver will be facing his former Arizona team for the second time Sunday when the San Francisco 49ers (3-2) host the Cardinals (3-2) in an NFC West matchup. Boldin spent his first seven seasons with Arizona before being traded to Baltimore for two draft picks following the 2009 season. Boldin also downplayed the reunion leading up to his first meeting against the Cardinals in 2011 in Baltimore. He took out any lingering feelings on the field, catching seven passes for 145 yards to rally the Ravens past Arizona 30-27. Boldin sees no reason to be sentimental this week. After all, he said, the franchise he played for in Arizona — and helped lead to the Super Bowl after the 2008 season, when the Cardinals lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers — has had so many changes it's almost unrecognizable now. ''I don't know any of those guys. Probably about two guys remain,'' Boldin said. Plenty has changed for him as well since his days in the Arizona desert. Boldin won the Super Bowl with the Ravens in February. He was traded to the 49ers in the offseason for a sixth-round draft pick in a cost-cutting move by Baltimore. And at age 33, he's become Colin Kaepernick's No. 1 target with so many injuries to other wide receivers, notably Michael Crabtree, who will be out until at least November rehabbing a torn right Achilles tendon. ''Anquan has been everything we expected and then some,'' 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman said. Boldin leads San Francisco with 26 receptions and 393 yards. But he has caught just one touchdown pass since the season opener, when he had 13 catches for 208 yards and a score in a win over Green Bay. What the 49ers love most about Boldin is that, whether the team wins or losses, his demeanor never changes. The same qualities that defined him earlier in his career— he's smart, savvy and plays with an angry attitude — are still a driving force in the locker room and in the huddle in San Francisco. ''Sometimes it kind of comes off as quiet or even a little angry, but he's just serious about winning and serious about his job and I love that about him,'' 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said on a conference call with Arizona reporters this week. ''I really don't think I exaggerate this when I say it, but with the kind of presence that he has, he would very much make a great senator. ''I think Senator Boldin is something that could be in his future because he cares about people, he's very smart and he's got extremely high character.'' See 49ERS, page 2B AP photo Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Sonny Gray kicks the dirt as Detroit Tigers Miguel Cabrera rounds the bases after he scored a two-run home run in the fourth inning of Game 5 of the ALDS on Thursday in Oakland. Verlander throws A's away OAKLAND (AP) — Justin Verlander pitched another Game 5 gem in Oakland while carrying a no-hit bid into the seventh inning, and Miguel Cabrera homered to lead the Detroit Tigers past the Athletics 3-0 Thursday night and back into the AL championship series. Joaquin Benoit retired Seth Smith on a fly ball with two on in the ninth to close out the deciding game of their division series. The Tigers became the first team to reach the ALCS in three straight years since the New York Yankees from 1998-2001. Game 1 is Saturday in Boston. The Tigers went 4-3 against the Red Sox this year. They have never faced each other in the postseason. Verlander gave up a clean, two-out single to Yoenis Cespedes in the seventh to end his chance at the third nohitter in postseason history. The hit hardly fazed him, however. On a night he allowed only three baserunners, Verlander made it a postseason-record 30 straight scoreless innings against one team since Coco Crisp hit a leadoff home run for the A's in Game 1 last October. Just 364 days earlier, Verlander tossed a four-hit, 6-0 masterpiece in Game 5 in this very ballpark, a 122pitch performance for his first career postseason shutout and complete game. He nearly matched that with a spectacular 111-pitch outing in a rematch of his thrilling pitcher's duel with rookie Sonny Gray five days earlier in Game 2. Aching slugger Cabrera hit a tworun homer in the fourth off with a drive into the left-field seats for his first homer since Sept. 17 and just his third extra-base hit in 99 at-bats. That ended a 20-inning scoreless streak by the Tigers at the Coliseum. Gray danced with danger from the start with stuff not nearly as crisp as just five nights before when he matched zeros with the 2011 AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner. This time, Verlander didn't allow a baserunner until Josh Reddick drew a one-out walk in the sixth — but the no-hit bid remained until Cespedes' single the next inning. The hardest hit ball was a fly to the center-field warning track by Stephen Vogt in the sixth. Verlander struck out 10 in eight innings, giving him 21 Ks in these two starts. He has 43 strikeouts in his four playoff outings against Oakland the past two years. The A's saw their season end at the hands of Detroit for the third time in as many postseasons, including in a fourgame sweep in the 2006 ALCS. Oakland has lost its last six winnertake-all Game 5s and fell to 1-12 in potential clinchers since 2000. The A's struck out 57 times for the most in a best-of-five playoff series. Verlander earned the nod for the decider after Game 1 winner Max Scherzer pitched in relief of an 8-6, season-saving win Game 4 in Detroit. Manager Jim Leyland had no qualms See A'S, page 2B Bears stop skid, keep Giants winless CHICAGO (AP) — Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall were simply too much to handle. So was Tim Jennings. Cutler threw two touchdown passes to Marshall, and Jennings had two of the Chicago Bears' three interceptions against Eli Manning in a 27-21 victory over the winless New York Giants on Thursday night. The Bears (4-2) snapped a two-game slide following a 3-0 start. New York is 0-6 for the first time since the 1976 team dropped its first nine, a stunning turn for a franchise that won the Super Bowl two years ago. Cutler and Marshall were in tune early on, connecting for two touchdowns, and Jennings returned an interception 48 yards for a score as Chicago built a 2414 halftime lead. The Bears were up by 13 when New York's Brandon Jacobs ran it in from the 1 in the closing seconds of the third after Jennings got called for interference against Hakeem Nicks near the goal line. That cut it to 27-21, but Jennings made up for it in a big way when he picked off an overthrown pass by Manning intended for tight end Brandon Myers at the 12 with 1:54 left in the game. Cutler was 24 of 36 for 262 yards after throwing for 358 against New Orleans last week. Marshall played a huge role in this one after venting over a lack of catches against the Saints, finishing with nine receptions for 87 yards. Martellus Bennett had 68 yards on six catches against his former team, while Alshon Jeffery had just one reception after going off for a franchise-record 218 yards in the previous game. Robbie Gould kicked two field goals, including a 52-yarder in the third quarter that gave him 12 straight conversions from 50 or longer, and the Bears eased at least a few nerves, even if this win came against one of the NFL's four winless teams The Giants came in clinging to the idea that they could claw their way back into the NFC East race because every team in the division has a losing record. It's hard to see that happening, the way they're playing. See BEARS, page 2B U.S.wants to finish World Cup qualifying strong AP photo San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Anquan Boldin dives into the end zone to score on 20yard touchdown reception Sept. 26. Tehama Tracker Today's schedule FOOTBALL Chico at Red Bluff, 7:30 p.n.; Orland at Corning, 7:30 p.m.; Los Molinos at Maxwell, 7:30 p.m. Sports on TV AUTO RACING 2:30 p.m. ESPN2 — NASCAR, Sprint Cup, practice for Bank of America 500, at Concord, N.C. 4:30 p.m. ESPN2 — NASCAR, Nationwide Series, Dollar General 300, at Concord, N.C. 10 P NBCSN — Formula One, qualifying .m. for Japanese Grand Prix, at Suzuka, Japan COLLEGE FOOTBALL 5:30 p.m. ESPN — Temple at Cincinnati GOLF 6 a.m. TGC — European PGA Tour, Portugal Masters, second round, at Vilamoura, Portugal 11 A.m. TGC — Champions Tour, SAS Championship, first round, at Cary, N.C. 2 p.m. TGC — PGA Tour, Frys.com Open, second round, at San Martin, Calif. 9:30 a.m. TGC — LPGA Malaysia, third round, at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYOFFS 5 p.m. TBS — Playoffs, National League Championship Series, game 1, Los Angeles at St. Louis MEN'S COLLEGE HOCKEY 5 p.m. NBCSN — W. Michigan at Notre Dame PREP FOOTBALL 7 p.m. FS1 — St. John Bosco (Calif.) at Santa Margarita (Calif.) SOCCER 11:30 A.m. ESPN2 — Men's national teams, World Cup qualifier, Germany vs. Ireland, at Cologne, Germany Noon FS1 — Men's national teams, World Cup qualifier, England vs. Montenegro, at London 3 p.m. ESPN — Men's national teams, World Cup qualifier, United States vs. Jamaica, at Kansas City, Kan. 6:15 p.m. ESPNEWS — Men's national teams, World Cup qualifier, Mexico vs. Panama, at Mexico City KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — There is little riding on Friday night's World Cup qualifier against Jamaica for the U.S. men's national team. The Americans have already booked their ticket to Brazil. Don't try to make that argument to goalkeeper Tim Howard, though. ''I think we'd still like to finish top of the group. That's important to us. We did that last cycle and felt really good,'' Howard said. ''It's also an opportunity to impress. It's an opportunity to be in front of Jurgen (Klinsmann) and the coaching staff.'' That may be the most important reason for the U.S. team to show up. There are only five international fixture dates before the start of World Cup training in May, and while Klinsmann is starting to narrow down his potential roster, there are still jobs to be won. ''I always said the door is always open. Maybe there are some surprises still around the corner that we don't know yet,'' Klinsmann said. ''I think we have a pretty good picture to understand where the players are at right now. We have an idea of how we want to plan the team for Brazil. But we still want to use those FIFA fixture dates to the greatest extent.'' The U.S. assured its place in Brazil with a 2-0 win over Mexico last month, taking most of the pressure of its final qualifying games against Jamaica and next week against Panama. The winless Reggae Boyz are still mathematically alive, but they need to win their final two matches just to have hope of sneaking into an inter-continental playoff with New Zealand. ''We have to win,'' Jamaica coach Winfried Schaefer said. ''There is no choice for us.'' The U.S. already has set a record for wins in a calendar year with a 14-3-2 mark, topping the previous record of 13 wins set in 2005 and 2009. ''We're looking forward to the game, a sellout crowd, a great atmosphere, and like we've said, we want to finish off on a high note,'' Klinsmann said Thursday. ''We want to go for six points in these last two World Cup qualifiers.'' That's part of the reason he's brought a veteran roster to Kansas City. Seventeen of the 20 players on the initial training roster were part of the group that prepared for Mexico, and three more veterans joined the fold on Thursday to prepare for Jamaica. Chris Wondolowski replaced forward Eddie Johnson, who strained his left groin in a training session on Wednesday. Johnson was scheduled for an MRI exam later Thursday. Midfielder Brad Davis and forward Chris Wondolowski also joined the team. Davis played in Houston's scoreless draw with Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday night, while Wondolowski scored the game-winner and Goodson went 90 minutes in San Jose's 1-0 win over Colorado. The injury to Johnson came after Klinsmann already had to replace defender Omar Gonzalez, who strained his left hip in an MLS game last week. He was replaced by Michael Orozco. ''We've had some setbacks with injuries,'' Klinsmann said, ''but as See CUP, page 2B