Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/203028
Sports 1B Thursday October 31, 2013 Raiders starting to get healthy at right time ALAMEDA (AP) — Oakland linebacker Miles Burris practiced for the first time since undergoing knee surgery in January, and second-round pick Menelik Watson joined him on the field after missing nearly a month. Slowly but surely, the line in the Raiders' training room is thinning out. The timing is right, too. Coach Dennis Allen's team is in the midst of a five-week stretch playing against opponents with sub-.500 records. The Raiders have won two of their last three and can get back to a break-even point by beating Philadelphia on Sunday. ''I thought both of those guys looked fairly decent out there at practice,'' Allen said Wednesday. ''We'll continue to evaluate them as the week goes on but that was good to see, to have those guys back out there. Those guys can help us.'' The Raiders have had a long list of injured players almost since the season began, most of them offensive linemen. The outlook is a bit more promising now. Getting Watson, the 42nd overall pick in the draft, back to practice gives Oakland some muchneeded depth up front. Starting right tackle Tony Pashos and backup center/left guard Andre Gurode both sat out last week's win over the Pittsburgh Steelers while hurt. Even left tackle Jared Veldheer, out since early in training camp, received encouraging news regarding his triceps injury. Veldheer flew to Los Angeles earlier this week to meet with his doctor and was told his recovery is right on track. ''Everything's going good,'' said Veldheer, who had started 42 consecutive games for the Raiders before getting hurt during a training camp practice. ''It's on track with everything. It's getting close, that's the exciting part.'' Burris started 15 games as a rookie in 2012 but had been on the physically unable to perform list before getting cleared to practice this week. The Raiders now have three weeks to decide whether to add Burris to the 53-man roster. They have an exemption on the 2012 fourth-round draft pick until then. ''(We're) getting an opportunity to get him out here and actually go through some football activity and see where he's at movement-wise, see where he's at conditioning-wise,'' Allen said. ''That will be a big factor as to when and if we decide to bring him up to the active roster.'' Burris set a franchise rookie record with 138 tackles last season while playing weakside linebacker. Now he's taking reps at all three linebacker positions and will also get work on special teams before the team makes its decision. ''Feels great to be back out with the team,'' Burris said. ''I was able to go pretty much full-go. It's just the other parts of the game, getting back out there and feeling everything and seeing things and just reacting. ''My biggest goal is to get back on that 53 and contribute any way I can.'' Watson had been getting work at left tackle with Oakland's starting offense after Veldheer went down. The 6-foot-5, 315-pound native of Manchester, England, will continue to get work there and as a backup to Matt McCants at right tackle until Pashos is cleared to practice. Watson's return comes one week after center Stefen Wisniewski rejoined practice following a twogame absence. ''With some of the depth issues that we have on the offensive line, he could potentially be forced into action sooner than maybe we would normally want,'' Allen said. ''We just have to evaluate how he goes through practice, where he's at mentally as well as where he's at physically.'' Notes: Pashos (hip flexor) and Gurode (quad) joined safety Tyvon Branch as the only players absent from practice. ''I don't expect them to be out a whole lot longer,'' Allen said. ''But you never know how these things can go, whether there's any type of setback in the rehab process or whatever. I'm hopeful that they'll be back soon.'' Tehama Tracker Tuesday's schedule VOLLEYBALL Redding Christian at Los Molinos, 7 p.m. Sports on TV COLLEGE FOOTBALL 4 p.m. ESPN — South Florida at Houston 4:30 p.m. FS1 — Rice at North Texas 7:30 p.m. ESPN — Arizona St. at Washington St. GOLF 1:30 p.m. TGC — Champions Tour, Charles Schwab Cup Championship, first round, at San Francisco 8 p.m. TGC — PGA Tour-WGC, HSBC Champions, second round, at Shanghai MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 4:30 p.m. FOX — World Series, game 7, St. Louis at Boston (if necessary) NBA BASKETBALL 5 p.m. TNT — New York at Chicago 7:30 p.m. TNT — Golden State at L.A. Clippers NFL FOOTBALL 5 p.m. NFL — Cincinnati at Miami SOCCER 5:30 p.m. NBCSN — MLS, playoffs, knockout round, Montreal at Houston AP photo Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Koji Uehara jumps into David Ross's arms after defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 6 of baseball's World Series Wednesday in Boston.The Red Sox won 6-1 to win the series. Red Sox win World Series BOSTON (AP) — There hasn't been a party like this in New England for nearly a century. Turmoil to triumph. Worst to first. David Ortiz and the Boston Red Sox, baseball's bearded wonders, capped their remarkable turnaround by beating the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1 in Game 6 on Wednesday night to win their third World Series championship in 10 seasons. Shane Victorino, symbolic of these resilient Sox, returned from a stiff back and got Boston rolling with a three-run double off the Green Monster against rookie sensation Michael Wacha. John Lackey became the first pitcher to start and win a Series clincher for two different teams, allowing one run over 6 2-3 innings 11 years after his Game 7 victory as an Angels rookie in 2002. With fans roaring on every pitch and cameras flashing, Koji Uehara struck out Matt Carpenter for the final out. The Japanese pitcher jumped into the arms of catcher David Ross while Red Sox players rushed from the dugout and bullpen as the Boston theme ''Dirty Water'' played on the publicaddress system. And the Red Sox didn't have to fly the trophy home. For the first time since Babe Ruth's team back in 1918, Boston won the title at Fenway Park. The 101-year-old ballpark, oldest in the majors, was packed with 38,447 singing, shouting fans anticipating a celebration 95 years in the making. There wasn't the cowboy-up comeback charm of ''The Idiots'' from 2004, who swept St. Louis to end an 86-year title drought. There wasn't that cool efficiency of the 2007 team that swept Colorado. This time, they were Boston Strong — playing for a city shaken by the marathon bombings in April. After late-season slumps in 2010 and 2011, the embarrassing revelations of a chicken-and-beer clubhouse culture that contributed to the ouster of manager Terry Francona, and the daily tumult of Bobby Valentine's one-year flop, these Red Sox grew on fans. Just like the long whiskers on the players' faces, starting with Jonny Gomes' scruffy spring training beard. Across the Northeast, from Connecticut's Housatonic River up to the Aroostook in Maine, Boston's eighth championship will be remembered for all the beard-yanking bonding. Ortiz, the only player remaining from the 2004 champs, had a Ruthian World Series. He batted .688 (11 for 16) with two homers, six RBIs and eight walks — including four in the finale — for a .760 on-base percentage in 25 plate appearances. Even slumping Stephen Drew delivered a big hit in Game 6, sending Wacha's first pitch of the fourth into the right-center bullpen. By the time the inning was over, RBI singles by Mike Napoli and Victorino had made it 6-0, and the Red Sox were on their way. The win capped an emotional season for the Red Sox, one heavy with the memory of the events that unfolded on Patriots Day, when three people were killed and more than 260 wounded in bombing attacks at the Boston Marathon. The Red Sox wore ''Boston Strong'' logos on their left sleeves and erected a large emblem on the Green Monster as a constant reminder. A ''B Strong'' logo was mowed into center-field grass at Fenway. Among the players blamed for the indifferent culture at the end of the Francona years, Lackey took the mound two days shy of the second anniversary of his elbow surgery and got his first Series win since the 2002 clincher. He pitched shutout ball into the seventh, when Carlos Beltran's RBI single ended the Cardinals' slump with runners in scoring position at 0 for 14. Junichi Tazawa came in with the bases loaded and retired Allen Craig on an inning-ending grounder to first. Brandon Workman followed in the eighth and Uehara finished. St. Louis had been seeking its second title in three seasons, but the Cardinals sputtered. Symbolic of the team's struggles, reliever Trevor Rosenthal tripped while throwing a pitch to Ortiz in the eighth, balking Dustin Pedroia to second. Pedroia had brought back memories of Carlton Fisk's 1975 Game 6-winning home run, sending a first-inning drive about 10 feet foul of the Green Monster foul pole — and waving his left arm once to try to urge the ball fair as he came out of the batter's box. Lackey escaped a two-on, none-out jam in the second when he retired Matt Adams and David Freese on flyouts and, after a wild pitch, struck out Jon Jay. Boston wasted a similar threat in the bottom half, then went ahead on the third. Jacoby Ellsbury singled leading off and went to second on Pedroia's grounder. Ortiz was intentionally walked, Napoli struck out and Gomes was hit above the left elbow with a pitch, loading the bases. Victorino, wearing red, white and blue spikes with an American flag motif, had been 0 for 10 in the Series and missed the previous two games with a bad back. Dropped from second to sixth in the batting order, he took two balls and a called strike, then turned on a 93 mph fastball and sent it high off the Green Monster, the 37-foot-high wall in left. Gomes slid home as Yadier Molina took Matt Holliday's one-hop throw and applied the tag, then argued with plate umpire Jim Joyce. Victorino, pumped with emotion, went to third on the throw and pounded his chest with both fists three times. Shaffer nabs league title in comeback By DN Staff Report While the Red Bluff Spartans' girls tennis team fell to Chico in the Northern Section team playoffs on Wednesday, No. 1 singles player Ginger Shaffer earlier captured her own Sac River League title after rallying from a set down to defeat Foothill High's Liz Kelly, 2-6, 6-1, 6-0. Several Spartans will compete Saturday in the Northern Section tournament at Foothill High School. Among Red Bluff's singles qualifiers are Shaffer, Aislyn Lair, Josie Clements, Tina Ortega and Erika Ellis. In doubles, Shaffer and Lair will team up, and so will Clements and Ellis. The Spartans captured a 2013 Sac River League title earlier in the season after going 12-0 on the season. Courtesy photo Red Bluff High's No. 1 singles tennis player Ginger Shaffer earned a Sac River League title after defeating Foothill High's Liz Kelly.