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2B Daily News– Wednesday, June 13, 2012 Yankees closer Rivera says knee surgery a 'success' ATLANTA (AP) — Yankees closer Mariano Rivera said Tuesday's surgery on his injured right knee ''went perfectly'' and he is looking forward to beginning his rehabilita- tion. saves leader tore his right ACL and damaged menis- cus in the knee while shag- ging fly balls in batting practice May 3. A blood clot in his right calf delayed the surgery until Tuesday. Rivera used his @Mari- The 42-year-old career think that's good news.'' Girardi said the surgery clears the path for Rivera's comeback in 2013. ''I think we're all anoRivera Twitter account to tell fans the surgery was a success. ''My surgery was a suc- cess, it went perfectly. I am looking forward to begin- ning my rehab soon. Thanks as always for your prayers. #GodBless,'' Rivera posted. New York Mets team physician Dr. David Altcheck performed the repair on the ACL. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said before Tuesday night's game against the Braves he was told the meniscus injury did not require surgery. ''I think the less you have to do the better off you are,'' Girardi said. ''I given a timetable on Rivera's expected recovery period. Rivera doesn't yet have a contract for next season, although it's expected he'll return and remain with New York. Asked if Rivera could be ready for spring train- ing, Girardi said, ''I would think that's a pretty good possibility.'' ''I'm sure Mo's anxious to get going,'' Girardi said. ''He was feeling pretty good when he was walking around before the surgery.'' Rivera was 1-1 with a 2.16 ERA and five saves when he was injured. Rafael Soriano, who leads the Yankees with nine saves, has been Rivera's primary replacement. David Robertson was expecting to see Mo pitch next year,'' Girardi said. ''I really don't think we're going to see any issues.'' Girardi said he was not working as the fill-in closer when he was put on the 15- day disabled list on May 15 with a strained muscle in his left ribcage. Woods eyes U.S. Open win SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tiger Woods couldn't stop talking Tuesday about how the U.S. Open presents the toughest test of the year. then how he fares at The Olympic Club could go a long way in helping him figure out how close he is to returning to the top of golf. Woods took a big If that's the case, step two weeks ago at Muirfield Village, when he rallied from a four- shot deficit at the Memorial and holed an amazing chip for birdie late in the round for his second win of the sea- son. That was enough to make him the betting favorite when the U.S. Open begins Thursday. Then again, he won Bay Hill in his final start before the Masters, and he looked ordinary in a tie for 40th at the Masters. The difference? ''When I went into Augusta, I did not feel comfortable hitting the ball up,'' Woods said. ''And I got back into a lot of my old patterns. Unfortunately, it didn't work out. But that's what made playing WASHINGTON (AP) — The dozen Washingto- nians who will decide Roger Clemens' fate heard a day of closing arguments stuffed with attention-getting sound bites. The eight women and four men who mostly care little about baseball then began deliberations Tuesday that will impact one of the most successful pitchers of his generation — and, in a way, the crim- inal pursuit of athletes accused of illegal doping. ''You,'' prosecutor Gil Guerrero told the jurors, ''are the final umpires here.'' They heard a clever line about Clemens being ''a Cy Young baseball player'' but not ''a Cy Young witness.'' They heard the key witness called ''a flawed man'' who produced evidence from a ''magic beer can.'' There were asked to debate whether it's ''out- rageous'' that Clemens was charged in the first place, or whether it's a byproduct from Con- gress' ''authority to pro- tect the nation's youth.'' Having digested the competing spins on 26 days of testimony by 46 witnesses, the jury met for some 15 minutes before being excused for the day at 5 p.m. They will recon- vene Wednesday after- noon, then unless they reach a quick verdict, take off until Monday because of a long-scheduled out- of-town business trip by the judge. Clemens is charged with perjury, making false statements and obstruct- ing Congress when he tes- tified at a deposition and at a nationally-televised hearing in February 2008. The heart of the charges center on his repeated denials that he used steroids and human growth hormone. was his longtime strength coach, Brian McNamee, who spent more than a week on the stand and tes- tified that he injected Clemens with both sub- stances. But also essen- tially on trial was Con- gress' right to hold the hearings in the first place, and Clemens lawyer Rusty Hardin spent part of his closing statement appealing to the notion that the U.S. government was way out of line. ''What's happened in this case,'' Hardin said, ''is a horrible, horrible overreach by the govern- ment and everyone involved.'' Clemens' chief accuser Penn State witness says he saw Sandusky sexually assault boy BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) — A former Penn State assistant coach who was a central figure in Joe Paterno's downfall testi- fied Tuesday that he heard a ''skin-on-skin smacking sound'' in a campus lock- er room one night in 2001 and saw something that was ''more than my brain could handle.'' Jerry Sandusky was standing naked in the showers behind a boy, slowly moving his hips, Mike McQueary told the jury. abused them in hotels, at his home and inside the football team's quarters. The former assistant coach and founder of an acclaimed youth charity has denied the allegations. Paterno was fired last Prosecutor Gil Guer- rero argued that Congress had the right to care because major league baseball players are role models. ''They influence chil- dren. They influence kids. Congress has to be involved with that,'' Guer- rero said in a packed fed- eral courtroom that included Clemens' wife and four sons. ''Congress has the authority to pro- tect the nation's youth.'' It's a debate that's timely following a pair of expensive Justice Depart- ment drugs-in-sports investigations that bore little fruit. More than seven years of probing yielded a guilty verdict on only one count of obstruc- tion of justice last year against baseball's all-time home run leader, Barry Bonds. A two-year, multi- continent investigation of cyclist Lance Armstrong was recently closed with no charges brought. The case against Clemens was far from tidy, relying heavily on a witness who carried a lot of personal baggage and physical evidence that sat for years inside a beer can. McNamee was the only person who testified to firsthand knowledge of Clemens using the drugs in question. McNamee MCT photo Tiger Woods hits his third shot out of a bunker June 3 in Ohio. Muirfield so nice. I had those shots, and I was doing it the correct way. And I had compression, hitting the ball high and hitting it long. That was fun.'' Woods tied for 18th in 1998, though that isn't the biggest change. The greens have been Olympic is all about hitting it in the fairway, and the right spots on the green. The golf course is longer than when resurfaced, and they roll so fast that it's difficult to get the ball close. Plus, the USGA has shaved some areas off the green to form large collection areas. A slight miss could send the ball some 30 Clemens fate now in hands of 'the final umpires' RAIDERS (Continued from page 1B) said he injected Clemens with steroids in 1998, 2000 and 2001 and with HGH in 2000. He also said he saved the needle and other waste from a 2001 steroids injection of Clemens and stored it in and around a Miller Lite can and put it in a FedEx box. Some of the waste was shown to have Clemens' DNA and steroids on it. round pick out of Wis- consin in 2009, lacks the name recognition of some of his higher-pro- file teammates, but he has been extremely pro- ductive on the field. He played mostly as a yards away. Woods told of the par-3 13th during a practice round in which he hit the green, and the ball rolled down a slope and just inside a hazard. ''This is probably the hardest test that we play all year,'' Woods said. Masters in 2009 and the opening rounds of the 2008 U.S. Open. set franchise worsts in touchdown passes allowed (31), yards per carry (5.1), yards pass- ing (4,262) and total yards (6,201), while giving up the third-most points (433) in team his- tory. Clemens' lawyers spent much of the trial attacking McNamee's credibility and integrity. McNamee acknowledged that details of his own story changed over the years, but he said that was partly because he initially tried to protect Clemens as much as possible. ''Saying that Brian McNamee lies zero times,'' Hardin said, ''is kind of like calling the Grand Canyon a ditch.'' Hardin produced a chart titled: ''Brian McNamee's testimony is admittedly not credible.'' It listed more than two dozen times in which Hardin said McNamee either lied outright or said something that resulted from a ''mistake'' or ''bad memory.'' Guerrero readily con- ceded that McNamee is a ''flawed man.'' ROGERS (Continued from page 1B) about. It's nothing seri- ous.'' McQueary, one of the star witnesses in the child sexual abuse case against Sandusky, said he had no doubt he was witnessing anal sex. He testified that he slammed his locker shut loudly as if to say, ''Someone's here! Break it up!'' Then, he said, he went upstairs to his office to try to make sense of what he had seen. Sandusky, 68, is on trial on charges he molest- ed 10 boys over a 15-year period. Authorities say he fall, shortly after San- dusky's arrest, when it became known that McQueary had told the head football coach about the shower episode a decade ago. Two months after his dismissal, Pater- no died of lung cancer at 85. is ''working through something'' but noted it's ''nothing to be alarmed about.'' Harbaugh said Rogers McQueary was com- posed during his testimo- ny, and when asked if he knew Sandusky, he looked right at him with a sharp glance that San- dusky returned. McQueary's account differed little from the one he gave in December at a preliminary hearing for two Penn State adminis- trators charged with fail- ing to report the shower episode to authorities. One difference: He said it took place in 2001 instead of 2002. Rogers received a new $31.3 million, four-year contract in March to stay with the 49ers, who have their entire starting defense intact as they attempt to defend their division title. Safety Dashon Goldson has yet to join the group as he waits to sign his fran- chise tender. Last summer, quarter- back Alex Smith led many of his teammates through workouts — the sessions became known as ''Camp Alex'' — at near- by San Jose State to get ready before camp began. NBA FINALS Game 1:Miami, Oklahoma City, Thursday at Oklahoma City, 6 p.m. Sunday at Miami, 5 p.m. Tuesday at Miami, 6 p.m. x-June 21: at Miami, 6 p.m. x-June 24: at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m. x-June 26: at Oklahoma City, 6 p.m. x - if needed ''It's kind of laughable to compare it to last year,'' Smith said Tues- day. ''This time last year we were at San Jose State doing what we could, which wasn't much. This year, I know this offsea- son, even with the limited time and the new regula- tions, we really got a lot of work in and really pushed the tempo. We're not even close to where we were last year, but that doesn't guarantee us anything. Obviously, we're a lot further ahead than we were last year, but you've still got to go out there and play and win games. It's a good start right now.'' WNBA EASTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB Chicago 6 1 .857 — Connecticut 6 1 .857 — Indiana 4 2 .6671 1/2 Atlanta 3 5 .3753 1/2 New York 3 6 .333 4 Washington 1 5 .1674 1/2 WESTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB Minnesota 9 0 1.000— Los Angeles 6 1 .857 2 San Antonio 3 4 .429 5 Phoenix 2 5 .286 6 Seattle 1 6 .143 7 Tulsa reserve as a rookie but had four sacks and 4.5 run tackles behind the line as he showed signs of being capable of being an every-down lineman in the NFL. He then started eight games his second season, when he was second on the team with seven sacks and second with 6.5 run stuffs. expecting big things last season but Shaughnessy got hurt early. Desmond Bryant moved outside to take Shaughnessy's starting spot but that hit Oakland's defensive line depth and Jarvis Moss saw time as a pass rush- ing specialist. The Raiders were defensive coordinator, is trying to bring a more aggressive style to Oak- land that depends on strong play from his stout line. Allen, a former ''The key to playing football in the National Football League is to find ways to affect the quarterback and you do that by rush or cover- age,'' Allen said. ''So when you got guys that have the ability to get after the passer, it allows you to do some things in the back end in the coverage aspect.'' MLB East Division Oakland is hoping a healthy Shaughnessy can team with Seymour and Tommy Kelly up the middle and Lamarr Houston on the left side to anchor a defense that needs to be much improved if the Raiders are going to contend in the AFC West. ''Once we learn this defense and start play- ing together, I think it's going to be tough to stop because there's so many different things we can do,'' Shaugh- nessy said. ''And if we're all on the same page, we're just going to be working faster.'' The strength of the team is on the defensive line, where most of last year's key players have returned compared to the changes that have gone on in the back seven under new coach Dennis Allen. The Raiders were his- torically bad on defense last season when they MLB East Division American League WL Pct GB New York 36 25 .590 — Baltimore 35 26 .574 1 Tampa Bay 35 26 .574 1 Toronto 31 31 .5005 1/2 Boston 30 32 .4846 1/2 Central Division WL Pct GB Chicago 34 27 .557 — Cleveland 32 28 .5331 1/2 Detroit 28 33 .459 6 Kansas City25 34 .424 8 Minnesota 25 35 .4178 1/2 West Division 0 8 .0008 1/2 ------------------------------------------------------- Today's games Seattle at Chicago, 8 p.m. Los Angeles at Connecticut, 8 p.m. Texas WL Pct GB 36 26 .581 — Dodgers 33 29 .532 3 Athletics 27 35 .435 9 Seattle 27 35 .435 9 National League WL Pct GB Washington 37 23 .617 — Atlanta 34 28 .548 4 New York 33 29 .532 5 Miami Phila. 32 30 .516 6 29 34 .4609 1/2 Central Division WL Pct GB Cincinnati 33 27 .550 — Pittsburgh 32 28 .533 1 St. Louis 31 31 .500 3 Milwaukee 28 33 .4595 1/2 Houston 26 34 .433 7 Chicago 21 40 .34412 1/2 West Division Dodgers 39 23 .629 — Giants WL Pct GB 34 27 .5574 1/2 Arizona 30 31 .4928 1/2 Colorado 24 35 .40713 1/2 San Diego 20 41 .32818 1/2 ------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday's results Baltimore 8, Pittsburgh 6 Washington 4, Toronto 2 Boston 2, Miami 1 Cincinnati 7, Cleveland 1 N.Y. Mets 11, Tampa Bay 2 N.Y.Yankees 6. Atlanta, 4 Texas 9, Arizona 1 Cubs 4, Detroit 3 Kansas City 2, Milwaukee 1 Minnesota 11, Philadelphia 7 Chicago White Sox 6, St. Louis 1 Oakland 8, Colorado 5 L.A. Angels at L.A. Dodgers, late San Diego at Seattle, late Houston at San Francisco, late Today's Games (All times Eastern) Washington (Strasburg 7-1) at Toronto (Drabek 4-6), 12:37 p.m. Pittsburgh (Correia 2-5) at Baltimore (Matusz 5-6), 7:05 p.m. Boston (Doubront 6-3) at Miami (Nolasco 6-4), 7:10 p.m. Cleveland (D.Lowe 7-4) at Cincinnati (Leake 2-5), 7:10 p.m. N.Y.Yankees (Kuroda 5-6) at Atlanta (T.Hudson 4-2), 7:10 p.m. N.Y. Mets (Dickey 9-1) at Tampa Bay (Price 8-3), 7:10 p.m. Arizona (Miley 7-2) at Texas (M.Harrison 8- 3), 8:05 p.m. Detroit (Porcello 3-4) at Chicago Cubs (Garza 2-4), 8:05 p.m. Milwaukee (Wolf 2-5) at Kansas City (Hochevar 3-7), 8:10 p.m. Philadelphia (Hamels 8-3) at Minnesota (Walters 2-1), 8:10 p.m. Chicago White Sox (Peavy 6-1) at St. Louis (Lynn 9-2), 8:15 p.m. Oakland (Milone 6-5) at Colorado (Outman 0-2), 8:40 p.m. L.A. Angels (C.Wilson 7-4) at L.A. Dodgers (Eovaldi 0-2), 10:10 p.m. San Diego (Marquis 0-1) at Seattle (Noesi 2-6), 10:10 p.m. Houston (Happ 4-6) at San Francisco (M.Cain 7-2), 10:15 p.m. Thursday's Games Cleveland at Cincinnati, 12:35 p.m. N.Y. Mets at Tampa Bay, 1:10 p.m. Detroit at Chicago Cubs, 2:20 p.m. Oakland at Colorado, 3:10 p.m. Houston at San Francisco, 3:45 p.m. Pittsburgh at Baltimore, 7:05 p.m. Arizona at Texas, 8:05 p.m. Milwaukee at Kansas City, 8:10 p.m. Philadelphia at Minnesota, 8:10 p.m. Chicago White Sox at St. Louis, 8:15 p.m. San Diego at Seattle, 10:10 p.m.