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2B Daily News – Friday, July 20, 2012 NBA Lin lands in Houston ured he'd be having this kind of news conference in New York. Instead, he was talking about his new deal with the Houston Rockets on Thurs- day on the same practice court where he worked in virtual anonymity seven months ago before he was waived. became a Rocket again when the Knicks decided not to match Houston's three- year, $25 million offer. ''It's been an unbelievable ride,'' Lin Lin MCT photo Angel Pagan makes a running catch Thursday on a ball hit by the Martin Prado. his NL-leading 28th save. GIANTS (Continued from page 1B) three games in Atlanta since 1988 at old Atlanta- Fulton County Stadium. The NL West-leading Giants began the day a season-best three games ahead of the second-place Dodgers and settled for winning two of three against the Braves. ''You take it,'' Bochy said. ''That's what you try to do, take series. It's hard to do. ''Sure, it's a tough loss, with the pitching we had. But you take it.'' Bumgarner and Clay Hensley held the Braves to three hits, none after the fourth inning. gave up only three hits but allowed three runs, two earned, in seven innings. He had eight strikeouts and no walks in his first loss since May 26. He couldn't extend his streak of wins in seven straight decisions and fell to 4-5 away from San Francisco. ''I didn't give up a lot of hits today so I felt good,'' Bumgarner said. ''The homers killed me.'' Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez was encour- aged because the Braves bounced back from Wednesday's night's 9-4 loss in 11 innings while also regaining momen- tum for a four-game Bumgarner (11-6) OPEN (Continued from page 1B) behind at 66. ''We had a little wind early on the front nine, but it kind of calmed down the second half,'' Snedeker said ''That's the best Americans are going to see over here.'' Rory McIlroy was panned last summer at Royal St. George's for saying he prefers calm conditions, so maybe this was more to his liking. He wound up in the group at 67 after a wild day filled with great shots, bad luck and a bump on the head for a 16-year-old spectator standing in the wrong spot. McIlroy was at 3 under with four holes remaining when his drive on the 15th hole sailed to the right of the fairway. It plunked the teenager in the head and car- omed farther to the right. The teen was OK. The ball settled a few inches beyond the out-of-bounds stakes near a corporate tent, send- ing McIlroy back to the tee to play his third shot. McIl- roy gave the lad a glove on which he wrote ''Sorry'' with a frown face and ''Rory.'' ''He could have headed it the other way,'' McIlroy joked later. ''It would have been on the fairway.'' He bounced back from that double bogey by driving the 336-yard 16th hole and two-putting for birdie, then making birdie on the final hole to join guys like Ernie Els, Masters champion Bubba Watson, Graeme McDowell and Steve Strick- series at NL East-leading Washington. ''You lose two in a row after winning seven and it feels like you'll never win again,'' Gonzalez said, referring to the team's season-best win- ning streak that ended with two losses to the Giants. ''Big win,'' Gonzalez Hudson has pitched at least six innings in 11 of his 15 starts. ''It was a lot of fun catching him,'' Ross said. ''He's our horse and we need him pitching well.'' said. ''It really is a big win after losing that game last night in extra innings and not leaving here until almost 2 in the morning. Coming back on short rest is really huge and could be the biggest win for us this year, depending on how that weekend (at Wash- ington) goes.'' The Braves began the day second in the NL East, 4 1/2 games behind the Nationals. Tim Hudson (8-4) helped an Atlanta bullpen that was drained by Wednesday night's loss. He gave up eight hits and two runs in 7 1-3 innings to outpitch Bumgarner. Freeman hit his 13th homer in the second. Bourn's run-scoring triple in the third gave Atlanta a 2-1 lead. Ross pushed the lead to 3-1 with his homer in the fourth. The Braves didn't manage another hit. ''Obviously we made those three hits count,'' Hudson said. Craig Kimbrel pitched a perfect ninth inning for er, who followed an eagle from the 13th fairway with a double bogey on the next hole. ing was that no one shot in the 80s. That hasn't hap- pened in the opening round of the British Open since 1998 at Royal Birkdale, where conditions also were benign. Woods opened with a 65 that year, only to get blown away in bad weather the next round. One sign of the easy scor- Sandoval led off the second with a single and scored on a single by Emmanuel Burris. The Giants didn't score another run until the eighth when Melky Cabr- era tripled and scored on Buster Posey's flyball to center, cutting Atlanta's lead to 3-2. NOTES Crawford, who fouled a ball off his right knee before hitting a go-ahead, three-run homer in the 11th inning on Wednes- day night, was 0-for-4. He said the knee is fine. ... The Braves are listing Ben Sheets as the starting pitcher in the first game of Saturday's double- header at Washington. Randall Delgado will be recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett to start the sec- ond game. ... The Braves open the series against the Nationals on Friday night when Tommy Hanson faces Stephen Strasburg in a matchup of 10-game winners. ... The Giants open a series at Philadel- phia today with Tim Lincecum, only 3-10, fac- ing Vance Worley. Giants SS Brandon rallied for a 74. Lytham was there for the taking — as long as the tee shots found the fairway. Phil Mickelson, a runner- said. ''Just a lot of things I didn't expect to happen, in terms of just the way last season went. I still have to kind of remind myself that this is all actually happening, sometimes. But it's a huge blessing. I can't believe how it all shaped up and for me to be here right now. I'm definitely excited and thankful.'' Lin said he expected to be re-signed by the Knicks after he electrified the Big Apple last season before he was sidelined by a knee injury. Shortly after the Knicks officially declined to match, Lin was quoted on SI.com as saying, ''Honestly, I preferred New York.'' Lin said the question he answered was set in the context of before the start of the free agency period. ''The question was, 'Going into free HOUSTON (AP) — Jeremy Lin fig- better next time?''' At the time Lin was released, the Rockets had Goran Dragic and Kyle Lowry on the roster — two point guards with NBA experience. And who knew what Linsanity would become? ''We had very fair reasons to waive him,'' Morey said. ''But the reality is, we shouldn't have.'' The Knicks didn't initially see his potential, either, dropping him briefly to the developmental league in January. He was recalled in early February and with team floundering at 8-15, coach Mike D'Antoni turned to Lin. The 23-year-old undrafted point guard from Harvard scored 25 points in a 99-92 win over New Jersey and a global phe- nomenon was born. He proved to be more than a one-game wonder, becoming the first player in league history to average 20 points and seven assists in his first five games. agency, which team did you prefer?''' Lin said. ''Before July 1, I didn't even know what teams were interested in me. But all I was hearing was, 'You're going back to New York.' At that time, before free agency started, I preferred New York. By the time it came to the offer sheet, I was just excited about both opportunities. ''Houston and New York,'' he said, ''I was definitely excited about the possibili- ty to go to both.'' But probably not as excited as the Rockets were to get him. Houston has missed the playoffs the last three seasons, and when Linsanity skyrocketed in New York, general manag- er Daryl Morey was kicking himself for waiving him on Christmas Eve. When Lin hit a winning 3-pointer in Toronto on Valentine's Day, owner Leslie Alexander called Morey to tersely ask him again why Lin was no longer a Rocket. ''He was killing me,'' Morey said with a smile. ''I think one of the reasons Mr. Alexander is a great owner is because we're constantly evaluating our past deci- sions and deciding what did we know at the time? What could we have done bet- ter? How can we improve? ''People are making a lot of us admit- ting to our mistake,'' Morey said. ''But the only way to get better is to quickly say, 'That was a mistake. How can we do TOUR mas was exposed on Thursday: Froome entered the day clinging to an 18-second lead over Nibali, and he was look- (Continued from page 1B) One of Sky's dilem- under, Scott needed one more birdie to become the first player with a 62 in the majors. There have been 25 rounds of 63. on the way. The forecast has- n't been nearly as accurate as Scott was with his tee shots on Thursday — sunshine when it calls for rain, clouds when the forecast is for dry spells. Perhaps bad weather is Els and his caddie, Ricci Roberts, figured out imme- diately that dead calm trans- lates to low scores. ''It's on today,'' he said. up at Royal St. George's last year, went from the left rough to the right rough on the par-5 seventh to make double bogey on the easy hole at Lytham. On the next hole, he tried to hit wedge out of a pot bunker and it got snagged in high grass just over the lip. A small search party nearly didn't find it, and Mickelson had to take a penalty shot to drop it back in the fairway. ''I putted poorly today and I drove it horrific and the chipping was below average,'' he said. ''I said to Ricci, 'I might not have the chance again.' You never know how the weather is going to be.'' But even in such weather suited for low scores, Lytham still required tee shots in the fairway. It still demanded good shots. And it was a struggle for some. Lee Westwood, despite a birdie-birdie start, hit a bunker shot across the third green to take double bogey, and had to play a left-handed shot out of the back end of a pot bunker on the 13th hole as he staggered to a 73. Luke Donald made a sloppy bogey — his only one of the round — on the final hole for a 70. Justin Rose played in the same group as Woods and already was nine shots behind after eight holes. He Scott had no such issues. After an early bogey when he got out of position on the third hole, he warmed up with birdies on the sixth and seventh holes, and then ran off three straight birdies on the back nine, starting with the 598-yard 11th hole that he reached in two shots. Royal Lytham was changed to a par 70 this year, and with a birdie on the 16th that put him at 7 WNBA WESTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB Minnesota 15 4 .789 — San Antonio 13 5 .722 1.5 Los Angeles 15 6 .714 1 Seattle Phoenix Tulsa 9 10 .474 6 4 15 .211 11 3 15 .167 11.5 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB Connecticut 15 4 .789 — Indiana Atlanta Chicago New York 10 7 .588 4 9 10 .474 6 8 9 .471 6 6 12 .333 8.5 Washington 4 14 .222 10.5 ''I was waiting to use the bathroom going to the 17th tee and I did a look at the leaderboard and realized it was a par 70,'' he said. ''And I also probably then realized that I wasn't going to be the guy to shoot 62. It's one of those things that you don't want to go through your mind, thinking about your final score and stuff like that.'' iron off the tee on the 18th, played out of the thick rough short of the green and failed to save par. No matter. His 64, which MLS WESTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA San Jose 13 4 4 43 43 25 R. Salt Lake11 7 3 36 31 26 Seattle 8 5 7 31 25 21 Vancouver 8 6 7 31 23 25 Los Angeles 8 10 3 27 35 34 Chivas USA 6 7 5 23 12 18 Colorado 7 12 1 22 27 28 FC Dallas 4 10 7 19 20 30 Portland 5 10 4 19 19 30 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Sport. K.C. 11 6 3 36 26 19 New York 10 5 5 35 35 29 D.C. 10 6 3 33 34 26 Houston 8 5 7 31 28 25 Chicago 9 7 4 31 22 22 Montreal 7 12 3 24 30 39 New Eng. 6 9 4 22 25 25 Columbus 6 7 4 22 17 19 Philadelphia 6 9 2 20 20 19 Toronto FC 5 11 4 19 24 36 ------------------------------------------------------- Saturday's games Philadelphia at New York, 11:30 a.m. D.C. United at Columbus, 4:30 p.m. Montreal at Houston, 5:30 p.m. New England at Sporting Kansas City, 5:30 p.m. Portland at FC Dallas, 6 p.m. Colorado at Real Salt Lake, 7 p.m. Chivas USA at Los Angeles, 7 p.m. Sunday's games San Jose at Vancouver, 4 p.m. He slightly pulled a 2- Lin jerseys became the league's top sellers, he made the cover of Sports Illus- trated in consecutive weeks and had drinks named for him in New York. He was initially overwhelmed by the media glare. Now, he takes it in stride. He went to dinner with new teammate Chandler Parsons in Houston on Wednes- day night and Parsons estimated they were interrupted 15-20 times by fans ask- ing for autographs and photos. ''This past year, it took me by surprise and it was just this huge storm,'' Lin said. ''It was kind of baptism by fire. You get thrown into it and you've just got to make adjustments and learn. That's a lot of what I had to do.'' While Alexander said the decision to pursue Lin was ''all basketball,'' he acknowledged that he could potentially impact on the Rockets' brand in the way that Yao Ming did, expanding its reach in Asia. But hat, Alexander, depends on how good Lin becomes and if the team improves along with him. Lin is American-born, but of Chinese and Taiwanese descent, and the number of Chinese media at the press conference was about equal to the American contin- gent. ''If you don't win, what difference does it make?'' Alexander said. ''If you get him, and he's not a very good player, you look like a fool. How does that help you in any way?'' There's an added caveat for Lin and the Rockets this season — the All-Star game will be played in Houston on Feb. 17. Yao was named to eight All-Star teams, largely on the strength of Chinese fans who voted online. ing for any chance to gain time on the Italian. the Peyragudes, Froome tried to gain time on Nibali, but also repeat- edly spoke with Wiggins and gestured to him to come along. On the final ascent up ''Chris encouraged matched Tom Lehman's third-round score in 1996 when he went on to win his only major. the same outcome. His 18 worldwide wins include The Players Championship, the Tour Championship, and the Australian Open. He has reached as high as No. 3 in the world. He is missing the kind of trophy that defines great players. Scott can only hope for ''I've won a couple of MLB West Division Texas American League WL Pct GB Angels 50 43 .538 6 A's 55 36 .604 — 47 44 .516 8 Seattle 40 54 .426 16.5 East Division WL Pct GB New York 57 34 .626 — Baltimore 48 44 .522 9.5 Tampa Bay 48 45 .516 10 Boston 47 45 .511 10.5 Toronto 45 47 .489 12.5 Central Division WL Pct GB Chicago 50 41 .549 — Detroit 49 44 .527 2 Cleveland 47 45 .511 3.5 Kansas City39 52 .429 11 Minnesota 38 54 .413 12.5 ------------------------------------------------------- Thursday's results Tampa Bay 6, Cleveland 0 Detroit 5, L.A. Angels 1 Baltimore 4, Minnesota 3 Seattle 6, Kansas City 1 Chicago White Sox at Boston, late N.Y.Yankees at Oakland, late Today's games Baltimore (Mig.Gonzalez 1-1) at Cleve- land (D.Lowe 8-7), 4:05 p.m. Chicago White Sox (Peavy 7-6) at Detroit (Verlander 10-5), 4:05 p.m. Seattle (Iwakuma 1-2) at Tampa Bay (Shields 8-6), 4:10 p.m. Toronto (Laffey 1-1) at Boston (Beckett 5- 7), 4:10 p.m. Minnesota (Blackburn 4-5) at Kansas City (Hochevar 6-8), 5:10 p.m. N.Y.Yankees (Nova 10-4) at Oakland (Milone 9-6), 7:05 p.m. Texas (D.Holland 6-4) at L.A. Angels (Weaver 11-1), 7:05 p.m. Saturday's Games Chicago White Sox at Detroit, 1:05 p.m. Texas at L.A. Angels, 1:05 p.m. Baltimore at Cleveland, 4:05 p.m. Minnesota at Kansas City, 4:10 p.m. Seattle at Tampa Bay, 4:10 p.m. Toronto at Boston, 4:10 p.m. N.Y.Yankees at Oakland, 6:05 p.m. me, saying 'Come on, come on,''' Wiggins said. ''He's really strong ... he can win the Tour one day.'' takes riders on a 137- mile trek from Blagnac to Brive-la-Gaillarde in central France. The 18th stage today tournaments most years, which is a good habit to have because it's getting harder and harder to win out here,'' Scott said. ''And I'm looking for a win this year. But I would say I haven't achieved what I wanted until I win a major.'' MLB West Division National League WL Pct GB GIANTS 51 41 .554 — Dodgers 49 44 .527 2.5 Arizona 44 48 .478 7 San Diego 38 55 .409 13.5 Colorado 35 56 .385 15.5 East Division WL Pct GB Washington 53 37 .589 — Atlanta 50 41 .549 3.5 New York 47 45 .511 7 Miami Phila. Central Division WL Pct GB Cincinnati 52 40 .565 — Pittsburgh 51 40 .560 .5 St. Louis 47 45 .511 5 Milwaukee 44 47 .484 7.5 Chicago 38 53 .418 13.5 Houston 34 58 .370 18 ------------------------------------------------------- Thursday's results Atlanta 3, San Francisco 2 Cincinnati 7, Arizona 6 N.Y. Mets 9, Washington 5 Chicago Cubs 4, Miami 2 Houston at San Diego, late Today's games Atlanta (Hanson 10-5) at Washington (Strasburg 10-4), 4:05 p.m. Miami (Nolasco 8-7) at Pittsburgh (Cor- reia 6-6), 4:05 p.m. San Francisco (Lincecum 3-10) at Philadelphia (Worley 5-5), 4:05 p.m. L.A. Dodgers (Harang 6-5) at N.Y. Mets (J.Santana 6-6), 4:10 p.m. Milwaukee (Estrada 0-3) at Cincinnati (Bailey 8-6), 4:10 p.m. Chicago Cubs (Dempster 5-3) at St. Louis (Lohse 9-2), 5:15 p.m. Houston (B.Norris 5-7) at Arizona (Cahill 7-8), 6:40 p.m. Colorado (D.Pomeranz 1-4) at San Diego (Marquis 2-5), 7:05 p.m. Saturday's games Atlanta at Washington, 10:05 a.m., 1st game L.A. Dodgers at N.Y. Mets, 10:10 a.m. San Francisco at Philadelphia, 1:05 p.m. Atlanta at Washington, 4:05 p.m., 2nd game Miami at Pittsburgh, 4:05 p.m. Milwaukee at Cincinnati, 4:10 p.m. Chicago Cubs at St. Louis, 4:15 p.m. Houston at Arizona, 5:10 p.m. Colorado at San Diego, 5:35 p.m. 44 48 .478 10 41 52 .441 13.5