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Friday Legion — Sabers vs Red Bluff Bulls at Corning, 6:30 p.m. MLB—Yankees at Cubs, 11:15 a.m., MLBN MLB—Giants at Athletics, 7 p.m., CSN U.S. Open —2nd Round, 7 a.m., ESPN, Noon, NBC, 2 p.m., ESPN ARCA— The RainEater Wiper Blades 200, 2 p.m., SPEED Sports 1B Friday June 17, 2011 Weeks, Matsui lead A’s past Royals ball and left it up in the zone and we were chasing it,’’ said Fran- coeur, who also struck out four times. ‘‘That’s not a good combi- nation, especially when you throw 94 miles an hour like he does.’’ Daric Barton drove in two runs, and Coco Crisp and Kurt Suzuki each had an RBI in support of Gio Gonzalez (6-5), who ended a per- sonal three-game slide for his first win since May 17. ‘‘There were a couple of innings where I had to sit down and take a deep breath,’’ Gonzalez said. ‘‘My throat is a little sore and I feel a little weak but I didn’t want to show any weakness.’’ Gonzalez allowed two runs on five hits over six innings. He walked two and struck out 10. ‘‘He’s usually pretty animated MCT photo Hideki Matsui trots around the bases following a home run,Thursday afternoon. OAKLAND (AP) — Jemile Weeks played through some nerves, Gio Gonzalez played through an illness and the Oakland Athletics played well enough for their first series win under interim manager Bob Melvin. Weeks had two hits and drove in three runs, and Hideki Matsui homered to lead the Oakland Ath- letics to an 8-4 win over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday. Matsui’s solo blast gave him a combined 499 homers in Japan and the U.S. and helped Oakland win a second straight game for the first time since a four-game streak May 26-29. ‘‘The first couple of days were shaky from nerves and I just tried to stay confident,’’ said Weeks, hit- ting .344 (11 for 32) since his June 7 callup. ‘‘I’m just going out there and playing as hard as I can.’’ Melky Cabrera had two hits and drove in a run for the Royals, who lost their second straight. Jeff Francoeur, Wilson Betemit and Brayan Pena each added an RBI. ‘‘He was establishing his fast- and he was subdued,’’ Melvin said. ‘‘You could tell he was feeling it.’’ Jeff Francis (3-7) gave up a sea- son-high six runs on nine hits over 3 1-3 innings, his second- shortest outing of the season. He walked two and did not strike out a batter in a game for the first time. ‘‘I was falling behind guys in certain situations and that doesn’t do me any good,’’ Francis said. ‘‘When I did throw a good pitch they put some good swings on them.’’ Melvin earned his first ejection in an Oakland uniform, getting tossed by third base umpire Tim Tschida in the top of the third. ‘‘There was some miscommu- nication,’’ Melvin said. ‘‘Tim thought I was arguing with him but I was just waving my arms and yelling because I thought we weren’t getting calls. It was not great form getting kicked out.’’ Weeks’ two-out double scored two runners in the second during the A’s four-run rally. ‘‘Hitting is contagious in my opinion and when guys are hitting like that you think, ’Well, I better go up there and get a hit,’’’ Weeks said. Matsui led off the third with his sixth home run of the season and third in seven games after going homerless in his previous 23 games. Barton later added his sec- ond RBI of the game. ‘‘I don’t know the time differ- ence but I’m pretty sure a lot of people in Japan will be watching,’’ Melvin said. The Royals scored twice in the fifth to make it 6-2 on Cabrera’s single and Francoeur’s double. Weeks singled home a run in the bottom of the fifth and Suzuki doubled home a run in the seventh. Betemit and Pena each doubled in a run for the Royals in the eighth. Notes: Barton tied Sean Casey for most games to start a season without a home run by a first baseman at 63. ... Melvin plans to give Matsui a start in each of the series played in National League parks during interleague play. ... A’s right fielder Conor Jackson had a hit and walked against Francis, improving to .436 (17 for 39) against the left-hander. McIlroy shows off his major form, takes 3-shot lead You need to stay in there with a chance." BETHESDA, Md. (AP) — Rory McIlroy is becom- ing a master at these major championships. At least on Thursday. Showing no linger effects from a Sunday collapse at the Masters, the 22-year-old McIlroy made the toughest test in golf look like child's play at Congressional with a 6-under 65 to build the biggest 18-hole lead at the U.S. Open in 35 years. He missed only one green. He was the only player in the 156-man field without a sin- gle bogey. And just like that, McIlroy wound up atop the leaderboard after the open- ing round for the third time in the last four majors. "It felt like quite a simple 65," McIlroy said. "I didn't do much wrong." The trouble has been fin- ishing them off. There were questions about how McIlroy would respond after the calamity of his most recent round in a major, when he squandered a four-shot lead at Augusta National with an 80 in the final round. He has been saying ever since that he got over that meltdown a week after the Masters. By the way he bounced back at the U.S. Open, maybe it's time for everyone to believe him. "I don't know if it says that I've got a short memo- ry," McIlroy said. "I took the experience from Augusta, and I learned a lot from it. But, yeah, I mean you're going into the U.S. Open. You can't be thinking about what's happened before. You've got to just be think- ing about this week, and how you can best prepare, and how you can get your- self around the golf course." He took a route unlike any other player on an over- cast day with a few light showers just as he finished up his round. McIlroy was three shots clear of former PGA champion Y.E. Yang and Charl Schwartzel, the South African who captured the Masters two months ago at McIlroy's expense. "It's a long way to go, but it's nice to get yourself in contention," Schwartzel said. "If you start falling too far behind on a tough golf course, things can get a little bit too far in front of you. British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen was at 69, joining a small group that included Sergio Garcia and Ryan Palmer, the lone American among the nine players who broke 70. Defending champion Graeme McDowell had a 70. Phil Mickelson played alongside McIlroy, and it must have looked familiar. The last time the U.S. Open came to Congressional in 1997, Mickelson played with Colin Montgomerie, who also shot 65. "The game's easy when you hit it straight and make every putt," Mickelson said, referring to McIlroy. "It's a wonderful game. No course is too tough when you hit like that. He played terrific. It was fun to watch — although I didn't see much of it." McIlroy was walking down the center of most fair- ways, picking out the 100- yard and 150-yard yardage plates as his targets and hit- ting most of them. Mickel- son was all over the map, hitting only five fairways. He hacked out of grass up his knees on one hole, and on another hit driver from under the trees to get back into play. He wound up with a 74, a stunning score from where he was playing. Mickelson wasn't alone in his disappointment. The top three players in the world — Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer — combined to go 10-over par. Donald strug- gled with his accuracy and couldn't cope with the thick rough and shot 74 despite his birdie-birdie start. Kaymer also had a 74, while Westwood staggered to a 75, his worst opening round at the U.S. Open in 10 years. "It's not a very good score because I think the course is there for the tak- ing," said Westwood, who played in the morning. "Obviously, it's a tough test, but I thought the golf course was set up great today. If you played well ... I'm quite surprised that no one has gone out and shot 66, to be honest." Right about that time, McIlroy was on his way to the first tee, and he wound up doing one better. It was exquisite golf, starting with MCT photo Rory McIlroy tees off Thursday during the first round of the U.S. Open in Bethesda, Md. a 3-wood he drilled into the corner of the dogleg on No. 12 that set up sand wedge to 6 feet for his first birdie. McIlroy really hit his stride around the turn — an 8-iron to 10 feet on No. 17, anoth- er beautiful drive and 8-iron into the 15 feet left of the pin on the 18th, and a lob wedge to 6 feet on No. 1. The only time he flirted with bogey came on the 14th, when he went from deep rough into a bunker and had to hole a 15- foot putt for par, as long as any putt he made all day. So pure was his golf that McIlroy, who tied a major championship record with a 63 in the British Open at St. Andrews last summer, began to think he could do it again. He laced a 3-iron over the water and onto the fringe to about 15 feet on the par-5 sixth and missed his eagle attempt, then came home in pars. "It's a major champi- onship, and the toughest major championship of them all is the U.S. Open, and you can't let any other thoughts get in your head," McIlroy said. "You're just trying to concentrate entire- ly on your game, and trying to get that ball around the course in as few strokes as possible." McIlroy followed that 63 at the British Open with a wind-blown 80 that knocked him out of contention. He held the lead at the Masters all the way until the final round. There's no telling what awaits at Congression- al. He became the 10th play- er to start the U.S. Open at 65 or better, yet only two of them went on to win — Jack Nicklaus in 1980 at Baltus- rol and Tiger Woods in 2000 at Pebble Beach. And of the previous eight players to hold a three-shot lead after the opening round — Jerry Pate in 1976 was the last one — only Ben Hogan in 1953 at Oakmont wound up with the trophy. McIlroy understands that from St. Andrews. "I learned that it's a long way to go, even after that 63," he said. "It's hard to put thoughts out of your head about going on and winning and everything, but you've got to really stay in the pre- sent and stay in the moment. And I felt like I handled the second round at Augusta this year a lot better than I handled the second round at St. Andrews last year." What he hasn't quite fig- ured out is the lesson from the greatest champion of them all. Nicklaus invited McIlroy to lunch at his Florida golf club last year, and the kid grilled the Gold- en Bear about majors. "He's all about the majors," McIlroy said. "He emphasized so much to me about not making mistakes.” The 10 players who opened with 65 or better in the U.S. Open with name, year, course, score and finish: U.S. Open Opened with 65 or Better Rory McIlroy Mike Weir Tom Watson Brett Quigley Tiger Woods Jack Nicklaus Tom Weiskopf Lee Mackey Jr. 2011 Congressional 65 TBD 2009 Bethpage 64 T10 2003 Olympia Fields 65 T28 2003 Olympia Fields 65 T28 2000 Pebble Beach 65 Won Colin Montgomerie 1997 Congressional 65 2 T.C. Chen 1985 OaklandHills 65 T2 1980 Baltusrol 1980 Baltusrol 1950 Merion 63 Won 63 37 64 T25 Kansas City 4 Athletics 8 U.S. Open