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Thursday TGC — PGA Travelers Championship, noon ESPN2 — Cal vs. Virginia, 4 p.m. MLB — A’s vs. Mets, 10 a.m. MLB — Diamondbacks at Royals, 5 p.m. ESPN — NBA Draft, 4:30 p.m. Sports 1B WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Time and again after losing a point, Venus Williams rolled her eyes, slumped her shoulders and let out a shriek of dismay that echoed through Centre Court, reverberating off its roof. Facing the most, uh, experi- enced woman in the Wimble- don field — 40-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan — Williams was mired in a three-set struggle that lasted nearly three hours Wednesday, a tight, high-quality contest brimming with the sort of at- the-net, classic grass-court play seen so rarely nowadays. ‘‘She doesn’t play anywhere near her age,’’ Williams said. In the end, Williams, a five- time champion at the All Eng- land Club, mustered every bit of her competitive drive and considerable talent to pull out a 6-7 (6), 6-3, 8-6 comeback vic- tory over Date-Krumm and reach the third round. ‘‘She played unbelievable today. I thought she had some luck on her side, too, with net cords, balls hitting lines. I just thought today was a perfect storm for her to try to get a win,’’ said Williams, who again wore her decidedly original lace romper, featuring draped sleeves, deep ‘‘V’’ neckline, gold belt and gold zipper. ‘‘Thankfully,’’ Williams added, ‘‘I had some answers.’’ None more effective than her serve, in the late-going, anyway. That stroke delivered 12 aces, helped Williams escape several jams and was clocked at 120 mph even in her final service game. Contrast that with Date-Krumm’s serves, mostly about 80 mph. One was 65 mph. Date-Krumm, who reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 1996, quit tennis later that year, then came out of retirement in 2008, marveled at Williams’ serve afterward, saying: ‘‘Not only speed — it’s on the corner. So it was very, very difficult to break her.’’ Not at the outset, actually. Date-Krumm won 13 of the first 16 points Williams served, breaking three times en route to a 5-1 lead. The 23rd- seeded Williams turned things around, taking five consecu- tive games to go ahead 6-5. Williams then wasted a set point, and Date-Krumm even- tually won the tiebreaker. In the second and third sets, though, Williams played much more cleanly, and she wound up winning by breaking in the final game. It was hardly easy. ‘‘Venus came out slow, and that girl took off like a brand new motor,’’ said Williams’ father and coach, Richard. His daughter missed time with a bum hip and is playing only her fourth tournament since Wim- bledon in 2010. On Tuesday, his other daughter, Serena, needed three sets to win, too. After ambling out of Centre Court this time, Dad tapped his umbrella’s wooden handle on his chest and said, referring to those match- es: ‘‘They’re tough on the heart. The heart’s not as young as it once was.’’ He wasn’t the only one tot- ing an umbrella around the grounds Wednesday, when rain prevented any action until after 3 p.m., other than under the retractable roof at the main sta- dium. After Williams managed to sneak through, fans with Centre Court tickets had a chance to see easy wins for two-time champion Rafael Nadal, then three-time runner- up Andy Roddick. The top-ranked Nadal beat Ryan Sweeting of the United States 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, compiling 38 winners and only seven unforced errors. In the third round, Nadal will face Gilles Muller of Luxembourg — the only man other than Roger Fed- erer to beat him at Wimbledon in the past six years. Since los- ing to Muller in the second round in 2005, Nadal is 28-2 at the All England Club; that includes defeats against Feder- er in the 2006 and 2007 finals, titles in 2008 and 2010, and missing the 2009 tournament with bad knees. ‘‘Will be a big, big test for me,’’ Nadal said. Roddick’s strong serve was clicking again in a 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Victor Hanescu of Romania. The No. 8-seeded American hit 15 aces, saved the only break point he faced and limited his unforced errors to six — all with a special pair of fans sitting at Centre Court: his parents. ‘‘This is the first time Ziegler hits Turner in 13th NEW YORK (AP) — Brad Ziegler hit Justin Turner with a pitch with two outs in the 13th inning to force in the winning run and the New York Mets ended the Oakland Athlet- ics’ six-game winning streak, 3-2 Wednesday night. Lucas Duda had a one- out single in the 13th off Ziegler (2-1). Daniel Mur- phy, who entered as a pinch-hitter in the 11th, sin- gled to left. One out later, Jose Reyes was intentional- ly walked. Turner then was grazed on the left thigh with Ziegler’s first pitch. He turned to home plate umpire Alan Porter, look- ing for the call that gave the Mets their first walk-off win of the season. Bobby Parnell (2-1) pitched one inning in a rain- delayed game that took 4 hours and ended after mid- night. Turner gave the Mets a lead in the eighth inning with an RBI single after Reyes hit his major league- leading 13th triple, but Francisco Rodriguez blew his second straight save opportunity in the ninth, giving up an RBI single to Conor Jackson with two outs to tie it. Rodriguez gave up two runs in a loss to Atlanta last Thursday and he has allowed 11 runs in his last 9 2-3 innings. The Mets had the bases loaded in the 12th but failed to capitalize against Ziegler. Hideki Matsui made a tumbling shoestring catch in left field to end the 11th with a runner on first. The A’s regular designated hitter has made several nice catches in two games against the Mets, his first two in the outfield since last September. MCT photo Hideki Matsui of the Oakland Athletics battles the fans to make a catch for the final out of the fourth inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field in New York on Wednesday The Athletics had run- ners on first and second with one out in the 11th but Pedro Beato entered in a double-switch that removed Jason Bay from the game and held the A’s. Reyes’ triple to right- center off Joey Devine was the first hit for one of the top four batters for either team in a game that was dominated by a duel American League At A Glance By The Associated Press East Division WL Pct GB Boston 44 30 .595 — New York 43 30 .589 1/2 Tampa Bay 41 34 .547 3 1/2 Toronto 36 39 .480 8 1/2 Baltimore 33 39 .458 10 Central Division WL Pct GB Cleveland 40 33 .548 — Detroit 40 35 .533 1 Chicago 37 39 .487 4 1/2 Minnesota 32 39 .451 7 Kansas City31 43 .419 9 1/2 West Division Texas WL Pct GB 40 36 .526 — Seattle 37 37 .500 2 Los Angeles37 39 .487 3 A’s National League At A Glance By The Associated Press 34 41 .453 5 1/2 East Division WL Pct GB Philadelphia47 28 .627 — Atlanta 43 33 .566 4 1/2 Washington 37 37 .500 9 1/2 New York 36 38 .48610 1/2 Florida 33 42 .440 14 Central Division WL Pct GB Milwaukee 41 35 .539 — St. Louis 40 35 .533 1/2 Cincinnati 39 37 .513 2 Pittsburgh 37 37 .500 3 Chicago 30 44 .405 10 Houston 28 48 .368 13 West Division WL Pct GB Arizona 41 34 .547 — Giants 39 34 .534 1 Colorado 37 37 .500 3 1/2 Los Angeles34 42 .447 7 1/2 San Diego 32 44 .421 9 1/2 ——— Wednesday’s Games Pittsburgh 5, Baltimore 4 N.Y.Yankees 4, Cincinnati 2, 1st game Atlanta 5, Toronto 1 between R.A. Dickey and Gio Gonzalez for seven innings. Dickey’s knuckleball was particularly effective on a sticky night that began with a downpour that delayed the start for 1 hour, 3 minutes. He went eight innings for the third time in four outings and allowed three hits and a homer to Kurt Suzuki. San Diego 5, Boston 1, 8 innings Tampa Bay 6, Milwaukee 3 Detroit 7, L.A. Dodgers 5 Cleveland 4, Colorado 3 Washington 2, Seattle 1 L.A. Angels 6, Florida 5, 10 innings Cincinnati 10, N.Y.Yankees 2, 2nd game N.Y. Mets 3, Oakland 2, 13 innings Houston 5, Texas 3 Arizona 3, Kansas City 2 Chicago White Sox 4, Chicago Cubs 3 Philadelphia 4, St. Louis 0 Minnesota at San Francisco, late Thursday’s Games Seattle (Pineda 7-4) at Washington (Mar- quis 7-2), 10:05 a.m. Oakland (Godfrey 1-0) at N.Y. Mets (Capuano 5-7), 10:10 a.m. Minnesota (Duensing 4-6) at San Fran- cisco (Lincecum 5-6), 12:45 p.m. Arizona (D.Hudson 8-5) at Kansas City (F.Paulino 0-0), 5:10 p.m. Philadelphia (Oswalt 4-5) at St. Louis (C.Carpenter 1-7), 5:15 p.m. Friday’s Games Arizona at Detroit, 4:05 p.m. Boston at Pittsburgh, 4:05 p.m. The light-hitting Athlet- ics mustered just three hits through eight innings while trying to match their longest winning streak since 2009, all while wear- ing their alternative brilliant gold jerseys. Gonzalez allowed four hits and a second-inning run over seven innings. He was pinch-hit for in the eighth and Devine took over. Scoreboard Cincinnati at Baltimore, 4:05 p.m. Colorado at N.Y.Yankees, 4:05 p.m. Oakland at Philadelphia, 4:05 p.m. N.Y. Mets at Texas, 5:05 p.m. Tampa Bay at Houston, 5:05 p.m. Chicago Cubs at Kansas City, 5:10 p.m. Minnesota at Milwaukee, 5:10 p.m. Washington at Chicago White Sox, 5:10 p.m. Toronto at St. Louis, 5:15 p.m. Atlanta at San Diego, 7:05 p.m. L.A. Angels at L.A. Dodgers, 7:10 p.m. Seattle at Florida, 7:10 p.m. Cleveland at San Francisco, 7:15 p.m. Moves By The Associated Press BASEBALL American League CHICAGO WHITE SOX—Optioned RHP Lucas Harrell to Charlotte (IL). Activated RHP Jake Peavy from the 15-day DL. NEW YORK YANKEES—Placed RHP Jeff Marquez on the 15-day DL. Called up RHP Buddy Carlyle from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (IL). OAKLAND ATHLETICS—Activated 2B Mark Ellis from the 15-day DL. Optioned 1B Daric Barton to Sacramento (PCL). National League ATLANTA BRAVES—Activated RHP Bran- don Beachy from the 15-day DL. Optioned LHP Mike Minor to Gwinnett (IL). CINCINNATI REDS—Activated RHP Sam LeCure off the 15-day DL. Optioned LHP Travis Wood to Louisville (IL). ST. LOUIS CARDINALS—Released RHP Miguel Batista. Recalled RHP Lance Lynn from Memphis (PCL). BASKETBALL National Basketball Association LOS ANGELES LAKERS—Announced F Matt Barnes exercised his player option for the 2011-12 season. MIAMI HEAT—Announced C Zydrunas Ilgauskas exercised his player option for the 2011-12 next season. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS—Extended qualify- ing offers to C Spencer Hawes and F Thad- deus Young. SACRAMENTO KINGS—Exercised the rookie contract options on G Tyreke Evans, F Omri Casspi and C DeMarcus Cousins for the 2012-13 season. HOCKEY National Hockey League NEW JERSEY DEVILS—Re-signed D Jay Leach. ST. LOUIS BLUES—Named Tim Taylor director of player development.Signed F B.J. Crombeen to a two-year contract extension. SOCCER Major League Soccer MLS—Suspended Chicago F Cristian Nazarit two games and fined him $500 for his play that endangered the safety of his oppo- nent in a June 18 game against New Eng- land. COLLEGE BIG 12 CONFERENCE—Named Laura Rasmussen assistant director of communi- cations and Bret Ayers video manager. MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE— Granted BYU F Chris Collinsworth a medical hardship waiver, giving him three years of eligibility. UCLA—Dismissed sophomore football G Stan Hasiak from the university for academ- ic reasons. Thursday June 23, 2011 Venus, Nadal, Roddick win at Wimbledon they’ve seen me play here. ... I think today was the first time they ever sat in a box in my entire career,’’ said Roddick, who won the 2003 U.S. Open. ‘‘They picked a good court to debut that on. I think they’re having fun.’’ Other winners included No. 4 Andy Murray, No. 9 Gael Monfils and 72nd-ranked Alex Bogomolov Jr. of the United States, who reached the third round in his first trip to Wim- bledon by knocking off No. 25 Juan Ignacio Chela of Argenti- na 6-0, 6-3, 6-4. The only seeded woman to lose was No. 30 Bethanie Mat- tek-Sands of the United States, who caused a stir with her Lady Gaga-inspired jacket that had white tennis balls attached to it, then was beaten 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 by 133rd-ranked Misaki Doi of Japan. When Mattek-Sands arrived at the court, she noticed a tour official scrutinizing her getup. So Mattek-Sands made clear her unusual accessory would be removed before warmup time. ‘‘I’m not hitting any balls in it,’’ Mattek-Sands said. ‘‘Don’t worry.’’ Sharks look for tweaks rather than overhaul SAN JOSE (AP) — With the core of a team that has made consecutive trips to the conference finals in place, the San Jose Sharks head into this offseason look- ing for tweaks more than an overhaul. The Sharks have six of their top seven for- wards, six defensemen and goaltenders Antti Niemi and Antero Niittymaki already under contract with just over a week before the start of free agency. General manager Doug Wilson says his biggest pri- orities this offseason will be bolstering the defense and improving the penalty-kill unit in hopes that the Sharks can clear the conference final hurdle next season and make it to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time in franchise history. Doctors upgrade condition of beaten Giants fan SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Doctors said Wednesday they have upgraded the condition of a San Francisco Giants fan who has recently shown increasing brain activity after a severe beating left him in a coma three months ago out- side Dodger Stadium. Bryan Stow is now breathing without a ventilator, has moved his left arm and been able to intermittently follow some basic commands as physicians wean him off heavy sedatives used to ward off seizures, said Dr. Geoff Manley, chief of neurosurgery at San Francisco General Hospital. Manley cautioned, however, that he could not predict whether Stow would recover further, and that dangers such as infection and a buildup of fluids around the brain remained. ‘‘He is far from out of the woods,’’ Manley said of the 42-year-old Santa Cruz paramedic. Stow had been in critical condition since the March 31 attack after the season opener between the rival Giants and Dodgers. His condition has been upgraded to serious. He was still without the left half of his skull, which doc- tors removed to reduce pressure from brain swelling, the same technique used to treat Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords after she was shot in the head in January. ‘‘It is a long road to recovery from where we are,’’ Man- ley said. Stow had been weaned off two of the five anti-seizure medications used to stop what doctors called nearly uncon- trollable seizures shortly after the March 31 attack. Doctors were also lowering the doses of the remaining anti-seizure medications.