Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/38607
Monday MLB—Red Sox at Twins, 4 p.m., ESPN MLB—Pirates at Giants, 7 p.m., CSNB Sports 1B Monday August 8, 2011 Red Bluff splits weekend games LITTLE LEAGUE For the first time the Red Bluff Little League All-Stars resiliency wasn’t just test- ed within a game – it was tested overnight. After being crushed by the Southern Cal- ifornia champions 10-2 in their opener Sat- urday night in San Bernardino, Red Bluff rebounded Sunday afternoon to knock off Nevada 4-0. The win keeps Red Bluff’s hopes of advancing further in the Western Regional very much alive. Red Bluff joins Arizona, Nevada and Utah with 1-1 marks. Southern California (1-0) was playing Hawaii (0-1) Sunday night. After each of the six teams have played four games, the Top 4 clubs will move on to the semifinals. The Red Bluff All-Stars used some power hitting , clutch pitching and solid defense to shut down the Nevada state champion Silverado Little League from Las Vegas. Lane Pritchard, who’s fast becoming a star at the tournament, sealed the game with a solo homer in the fifth inning. Then shut the door on Nevada from the mound, pitch- ing three scoreless innings to notch the save. Wesley Clawson went the first three innings to earn the win. Nevada left eight runners on base, while Red Bluff made the most of its opportunities and belted three triples to go with Pritchard’s bomb. Kolby Button hit the first of those triples in the first inning and came home two batters later when Clawson hit Red Bluff’s second triple of the afternoon. Button got Red Bluff going again in the third inning with a single and scored Red Bluff’s second run of the game when Pritchard tripled to right field. Clawson then drew a walk and Nicholas Rodriguez drove home Button with an RBI sacrifice fly. Red Bluff turned a pair of double plays, including one from Pritchard to Evan Tanner to Rodriguez, as every time Nevada threat- ened, they somehow squeaked out of the inning unscathed. Tanner Tweedt played another solid game behind the plate. It was a 180 from the first inning of Red Bluff’s opener Saturday night against South- ern California champion Ocean View Little League of Huntington Beach. In front of an audience estimated at around 10,000 people, Red Bluff showed opening jitters against an Ocean View team that a year ago had reached the Western Regional championship game. Ocean View’s first six batters of the game all came around to score and Red Bluff was buried in a 6-0 hole they wouldn’t be able to dig out of. Of the few Red Bluff highlights were a pair of fantastic defensive plays from Pritchard and a 3-for-3 outing at the plate from their leadoff hitter Austin Youngblood. Youngblood scored Red Bluff’s first run in the third inning when he got on base with a one-out single. He took second and third on wild pitches and then scored on a Pritchard infield single. That made it 6-1, but Ocean View answered by scoring in every inning after. Red Bluff got one more run of their own in the fifth inning when Michael Chapman reached on an outfield error. Youngblood singled then Button drove in Chapman with a single to right field. Button, Rodriguez, Pritchard and Blake Blocker pitched for Red Bluff. Red Bluff resumes play Tuesday against Utah state champions Washington Little League at 4:30 p.m. They finish pool play on Wednesday against Hawaii. Both games can be heard on KBLF 1490-AM. See more photos from all of the games at the San Bernardino County Sun’s website sbsun.com/sports Media News photo by Will Lester Red Bluff’s Nicholas Rodriguez grabs Lane Pritchard for a huge, following their win Sunday over Nevada to improve to 1-1 at the Western Regional. Lincecum deals as Giants avoid sweep SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tim Lincecum’s right knee still throbbing, Chase Utley hustled out toward the mound to apol- ogize that his bat had struck the pitcher. A tense four-game series featuring a benches- clearing brawl between NL division leaders ended with an act of sportsman- ship. ‘‘He said, ’Sorry, man,’’’ said Lincecum, San Francisco’s ace. ‘‘Bad hop. Bad luck.’’ Lincecum stayed sharp until Utley accidentally lost his grip and the Giants ended the Philadelphia Phillies’ season-high nine-game winning streak, tagging Roy Oswalt in a 3-1 win Sunday. Jeff Keppinger had four hits as the Giants spoiled Oswalt’s return from the disabled list and avoided a four-game sweep. ‘‘That was one of the biggest games of the year, really,’’ Giants first base- man Aubrey Huff said. ‘‘Four-game sweeps are tough to deal with, espe- cially in your home yard.’’ Lincecum (10-9) went down in the eighth inning when Utley’s bat skittered back at him. Utley went out to check on Lincecum, who handed back the bat, walked it off and stayed in the game. Utley then hit a one-out single. Lincecum left later in the eighth after Hunter Pence reached with two outs on first baseman Aubrey Huff’s error. Javier Lopez relieved and retired Raul Ibanez on a fly ball. Brian Wilson finished for his 34th save in 38 chances, closing out the Giants’ second win in 10 games. New Giants star Carlos Beltran left after the sev- enth. He felt a sharp pain in the top of his right hand on a swinging strikeout to end the sixth. X-rays were negative and Beltran was expected to play Monday night against Pittsburgh. The NL East-leading Phillies, with the majors’ best record at 74-40, had- n’t lost since dropping two of three to the Giants in Philly from July 26-28. Lincecum allowed seven hits and one run, struck out five and walked one in 7 2-3 innings. The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner and four- time All-Star beat the Phillies for the second time in three starts. After walking leadoff man Jimmy Rollins on four pitches to start the game, Lincecum worked from the stretch the rest of the way to ‘‘simplify things.’’ He was determined to get the Giants back on track. ‘‘With the funk we’ve been in, you hope this is something to build on,’’ Lincecum said. ‘‘We don’t want to be content just winning one here and there.’’ It was a timely perfor- mance for the reigning World Series champions, who have been struggling to score enough runs for their talented pitching staff. San Francisco held its half-game lead on Ari- zona in the NL West after the Diamondbacks beat the Dodgers. ‘‘He gave us what we needed,’’ manager Bruce Bochy said. Oswalt (4-7), facing Lincecum in their seventh career regular-season meeting, gave up a sea- son-high 12 hits in his first start since June 23. The right-hander missed 37 games with lower back inflammation. He is 1-7 since beginning the year 3-0. ‘‘That was better than I thought I was going to be,’’ he said. ‘‘It wasn’t like I was giving up dou- bles into the gap. It feels good to be back on the field. Hopefully I can fin- ish out the year.’’ Phillies slugger Ryan Howard went 1 for 12 with eight strikeouts in the series and was 3 for 24 in seven games against the Giants this year. He struck out 12 times in 22 at-bats last October when San Francisco beat Philadel- phia in the six-game NL championship series. Orlando Cabrera hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the fifth and Keppinger added one of his own in the sixth. The Giants produced 13 hits and avoided their first four-game sweep by the Phillies since losing in Philly from May 13-16, 1982 — and at home since Aug. 6-8, 1943, while playing in New York. Chris Stewart added a pair of singles and an RBI and Pablo Sandoval had two hits for San Francis- co, which loaded the bases against Oswalt in the fourth. Stewart delivered a single up the middle to tie the game at 1. The Giants finally made the most of some chances after going hitless in their first 18 at- bats of the series with run- ners in scoring position. Huff’s fourth-inning bloop single two batters ahead of Stewart ended an 0-for-22 stretch overall with runners in scoring position. Beltran was booed when he hit into an inning-ending double play in the first. But Phillies center fielder Shane Vic- torino, in the middle of the skirmish Friday, got it worse from the sellout crowd of 42,366 — and fans jumped to their feet and roared when he struck out looking in the third. ‘‘You know what, noth- ing compared to New York,’’ said Beltran, trad- ed to the Giants on July 28 from the Mets. Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz took a third-inning foul tip by Lincecum in the facemask but stayed in the game after being examined by trainers. He had two hits. NOTES: Phillies 3B Placido Polanco flew home to Philadelphia to undergo an MRI exam Monday on his sore left hip. He came out of Saturday’s game with the injury, which he said had been bothering him for some time and wasn’t a result of being tackled by Giants catcher Eli Whiteside during the fracas Friday. ... Oswalt had his third hit of the year with a leadoff single in the third. ... San Francisco INF Miguel Tejada will likely go on a short rehab assignment soon before returning from the DL with a lower abdominal strain. ... Giants LHP Barry Zito’s rehab outing with Class-A San Jose was pushed back from Sunday to Monday. He is likely to pitch four or five innings as he nurses a sprained right foot that also sidelined him earlier this year. ... Giants RHP and All-Star Ryan Vogelsong (9-1) tries to extend his career-best winning streak to seven straight decisions in Monday night’s series opener against the Pirates. He is 6-0 with a 2.50 ERA over his last 12 outings. Vogelsong won at Pittsburgh in his first start of the year April 28, allowing two runs on four hits in 5 2-3 innings. He matched his career high with eight Ks. ... The Phillies continue their 10- game road trip against the NL West with the opener at Dodger Stadium. Roy Halladay (14-4) looks to win his fourth straight start. Philadelphia is headed into Game 18 of 20 in a row without a day off. Meet your All-Stars... 2. bode parks LF Bats: Right Throws: Right Age: 13 Family: Vince, Tyler and Laura School: Vista Favorite MLB Player: Pablo Sandoval Ambition: MLB Player Hobbies: baseball, football, basketball Scouting Report: a team player with a good attitude Willingham hits 10th-inning homer as Athletics beat Rays ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Josh Willingham led off the 10th inning with a home run, helping the Oakland Athletics beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 on Sunday. Willingham lined a pitch from Jake McGee (0-1) into the left field stands for his 17th homer this season. Fautino De Los Santos (1-0) threw a scoreless ninth to pick up his first major league win and Andrew Bailey allowed two singles in the 10th before getting his 13th save. Hideki Matsui also homered for Oakland, which stopped a stretch of 12 consecutive non-winning road series by tak- ing two of three from the Rays. Tampa Bay got homers from Casey Kotchman and Evan Longoria. Matsui extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a two-run homer off AL All-Star David Price during a three- run fifth that gave Oakland a 4-3 advantage. The designated hitter has 23 homers and 99 RBIs in 129 games against the Rays, his most against many team. David DeJesus scored the go-ahead run in the fifth on J.P. Howell’s wild pitch. Tampa Bay pulled even at 4 on Longoria’s solo shot off Grant Balfour during the seventh. Price, coming off three straight losses, allowed four runs and seven hits over 4 2-3 innings. Oakland’s Trevor Cahill gave up three runs and six hits over six innings. Kotchman had a solo homer and Desmond Jennings hit an RBI single as Tampa Bay went up 3-1 in the fourth. Johnny Damon put the Rays ahead 1-0 on a third-inning RBI grounder. Ryan Sweeney was hitless in 19 at-bats against left-han- der’s this season before getting Oakland even at 1 on a run- scoring single off Price in the fourth. The Rays lefty entered holding left-handed batters to a .154 average this year, low- est among major league starters. Tampa Bay’s Ben Zobrist lost a double with two outs in the seventh after a reversal call. First base umpire Tim Welke, while attempting to get out of the way of a liner down the line, called the ball fair. Welke, after talking with Oakland manager Bob Melvin, checked with plate umpire Mike DiMuro and the call was changed to foul. Zobrist then popped out to end the inning. So. California 10 Red Bluff 2 Nevada 0 Red Bluff 4 Tampa Bay 4, 10 inn Athletics 5 Philadelphia 1 Giants 3