Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/372136
MATTROURKE—ASSOCIATEDPRESS Serena Williams (le ) and Venus Williams talk between points against Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic during a doubles match Thursday at the U.S. Open. ByJamesMartinez TheAssociatedPress NEW YORK Goodassheis, even Serena Williams can find it tough to deal with swirling wind, so much so that she double-faulted three times in her first ser- vice game Thursday at the U.S. Open. And, yes, even a 17-time major champion such as Williams can lose in the early going at the sport's biggest tournaments, as she has repeatedly in 2014. Quickly putting behind a poor-serving start, and showing absolutely no other signs of the type of up-and-down play that has plagued her at Grand Slams this season, Williams dis- missed 81st-ranked Amer- ican Vania King 6-1, 6-0 in 56 minutes to reach the third round. "She never let me in," said King, who is 25. "She's played at such a high level for so long, and I used to watch when I was a kid, growing up. So it's kind of surreal to see the person that you've been watching on TV in front of you and playing. It was difficult." While buzz around the tournament grounds built all day waiting for 15-year- old CiCi Bellis to play her second-round match at night she wound up losing. Williams ran her U.S. Open winning streak to 16 matches as she tries to be- come the first woman to win three consecutive titles at Flushing Meadows since Chris Evert took four in a row from 1975-78. For the moment, the 32-year-old Williams wants to stay focused on avoiding the sort of problems she had at the Australian Open (where she lost in the fourth round), French Open (sec- ond round) and Wimble- don (third round). Not since 2006 has she failed to reach at least one major final in a year and she only entered two Slams that season. So far this week, she's left the trouble to others, and Williams could wind up be- ing the beneficiary. A pair of other past major cham- pions, No. 8 Ana Ivanovic and No. 24 Sam Stosur, lost Thursday, as did No. 23 Anastasia Pavlyuchen- kova and No. 27 Madison Keys, bringing the total to 11 seeded women gone after only two rounds. That included No. 12 Dominika Cibulkova, the Australian Open runner-up. Williamsshakesoff three double-faults TeensensationfromCaliforniaBellisfallsinthreesets U.S. OPEN TENNIS By Alex Pavlovic Bay Area News Group SAN FRANCISCO It has been nearly a year since Yusmeiro Petit came within a strike of becoming the 24th pitcher in major league history to throw a perfect game. In the aftermath of that disappointment, Petit didn't pout or wonder why the baseball gods held him back. He simply expressed gratitude for the opportu- nity to have such a magi- cal night. The game rewarded that faith, and now Petit stands alone in the record books. His eighth out in the San Francisco Giants' 4-1 win Thursday over the Colo- rado Rockies was his 46th straight overall, breaking Mark Buehrle's MLB record. Petit doesn't have a per- fect game on his resume, but this feat might be even better. Over two starts and six relief appearances from July 22 to Thursday, Pe- tit pitched the equivalent of a perfect game plus 19 additional outs. He took the mound at AT&T Park with 38 straight already in the books, and thought briefly of Eric Chavez's sin- gle that just barely eluded right fielder Hunter Pence last Sept. 6. "This is not going to hap- pen to me again," Petit said as he stood on the mound. Petit felt more relaxed this time around, even though he had five days to think about another shot at history. He has been dom- inant for a month, but it wasn't until a 4 1/3-in- ning stint in Washington last Saturday that Petit re- alized the roll he was on. What Petit was chasing had never been done before, but it wasn't a daunting chal- lenge, not for a pitcher who has overcome so much. The Giants took a flyer on Petit before the 2012 sea- son because Jose Alguacil, an instructor in the orga- nization, raved about the veteran right-hander's suc- cess in the Venezuelan Win- ter League. Petit was so lightly regarded that at the age of 27 he spent his first spring with the Giants toil- ing away in minor league camp. Before finally break- ing through late last season, Petit cleared waivers on two separate occasions. He has found perma- nence this year as a long reliever and spot starter, an invaluable Swiss Army Knife for manager Bruce Bochy. Petit has been dom- inant out of the bullpen, but it still took a month's worth of Tim Lincecum's struggles to get him back in the ro- tation. In the meantime, Pe- tit was dominating like no other pitcher in base- ball. The incredible streak started innocuously on July 22, when taking the ball in place of the injured Matt Cain, Petit gave up five runs in five innings. Grady Size- more's grounder back to the mound ended his day but started the streak. Moved back to the bull- pen after the acquisition of Jake Peavy, Petit retired six Dodgers on July 26. Two days later he set six Pirates down in order. He pitched a perfect inning in Mil- waukee on Aug. 7 and an- other in Kansas City three days after that. When the Giants won their protest of a rained-out game in Chi- cago, Petit was tabbed to pick up where Ryan Vogel- song left off. He struck out five in two innings. Still, the streak went unnoticed. That would change four days later in Washington. Petit entered for a shaky Lincecum and retired 13 straight. Jayson Werth, Ian Desmond and Anthony Rendon were among his five strikeout victims. It was that day that Petit and teammates started to take note of what was happen- ing. "It's really incredible if you think about it," Bochy said, smiling wide. "This game has been played a long time. That's quite a record." Petit attacked it Thurs- day, getting three quick outs in the first to tie Jim Barr's franchise and National League record. Around him, teammates had vary- ing degrees of knowledge about what was going on. The dugout rules are clear about how to treat a pitcher working on a perfect game, but there's no hard and fast way to handle a perfect run that lasts 38 days. BASEBALL Petit makes history as Giants defeat Rockies Sets major league record with 46 consecutive batters retired, starting July 22 ERIC RISBERG — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Yusmeiro Petit stands on the mound a er striking out the Colorado Rockies' Charlie Blackmon in the third inning Thursday in San Francisco to set the Major League Baseball record for consecutive batters retired. By Jenna Fryer The Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. Tony Stewart will return to Sprint Cup competition Sunday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway, ending a three-race hiatus taken after he struck and killed a fellow driver during a dirt- track race. The three-time NASCAR champion has not raced since his car hit Kevin Ward Jr. at an Aug. 9 sprint car event in upstate New York. Stewart pulled out of the NASCAR race at Wat- kins Glen the next morn- ing, then skipped races at Michigan and Bristol Mo- tor Speedway. Stewart, who was de- scribed by police as "vis- ibly shaken" the night of Ward's death, has been in seclusion ever since. Stew- art-Haas Racing executive vice president Brett Frood has said the emphasis was on giving Stewart time needed to get him "in a better place than he is." Stewart's only com- ment since the crash was a statement the day af- ter the crash in which he said "there aren't words to describe the sadness I feel about the accident that took the life of Kevin Ward Jr." Ward had climbed from his car after it had spun while racing for po- sition with Stewart. The 20-year-old walked down onto the racing surface waving his arms in an apparent attempt to con- front Stewart. Authorities said the first car to pass Ward had to swerve to miss hitting him. The front of Stew- art's car then appeared to clear Ward, but Ward was struck by the right rear tire and hurtled through the air. He died of blunt force trauma. Stewart will return with a decision pending on whether he will be charged in Ward's death. Ontario County Sheriff Philip Povero has said investiga- tors did not have any evi- dence to support criminal intent by Stewart. Povero said Thursday the investi- gation is still ongoing. Meanwhile, the 43-year- old NASCAR superstar will move forward with his ca- reer and attempt to sal- vage his season. NASCAR released a statement saying that Stewart was eligible to re- turn because he "has re- ceived all necessary clear- ances required to return to all racing activities." NAS- CAR said it would have no further comment un- til President Mike Helton speaks this afternoon. Stewart, who has 48 career Cup wins in 542 starts, is one of the big- gest stars in the garage. His peers have been pro- tective of him as questions emerged in the aftermath of the crash, and it pained them that Stewart was grieving in private and had cut off communication with so many of them. He will talk to the media for the first time since the fa- tal crash today. NASCAR SPRINT CUP Stewart returns to competition Will go Sunday night at Atlanta a er missing 3 races a er death of driver TERRY RENNA — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Tony Stewart will return to Sprint Cup competition Sunday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway, ending a three-race hiatus taken a er he struck and killed a fellow driver during a dirt- track race. N EWS D AILY RED BLUFF TEHAMA COUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U NTY S I N C E 1 8 8 5 PHONE: (530)527-2151 FAX: (530) 527-5774 545 Diamond Avenue • P.O. Box 220 • Red Bluff, CA 96080 Support our classrooms, keep kids reading. DONATE YOUR VACATION newspaper dollars to the Newspaper In Education Program HELP OUR CHILDREN For more details call Circulation Department (530) 527-2151 FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 2014 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM | SPORTS | 3 B