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2B Daily News – Tuesday, September 25, 2012 Scutaro huge second-half big addition for Giants SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Marco Scutaro is no castoff or misfit. Not even close. waivers in August two years ago and watched him capture MVP honors in the NL championship series and help lead them to that long-awaited first World Series title since moving West in 1958. He was one of those ''castoffs and misfits'' as manager Bruce Bochy referred to them. The well-traveled Scutaro is anoth- er late addition by general manager Brian Sabean to pay huge dividends down the stretch for the NL West champions. The 36-year-old infielder is headed back to the postseason for the first time since his 2006 Oakland Ath- letics team got swept by the Tigers in the AL championship series. ''It's been fun. It's been great,'' Scu- taro said. ''It's been a good situation. It's always fun to win. Just to have the opportunity to be in the playoffs, that's a lot. Just not for me, for any player. We all prepare hard, we work hard in the offseason to have the opportunity to be in this situation, to be in the playoffs. It's priceless to get this opportunity.'' There's no question Scutaro is among the best mid-season pickups of the summer. ''He's definitely up there. If he's not the best, he's amongst the top two,'' first baseman Brandon Belt said. ''It seems like he doesn't ever get out. He's even better when he has two strikes on him, which is awesome.'' Not only does Scutaro have an It just so happens he is having a major impact as part of San Francisco's run into the playoffs — the 2012 ver- sion of Cody Ross, if you will. Scutaro does it all: reliable defense, timely hit- ting, mentoring of younger teammates. The Giants plucked Ross off uncanny knack for clutch hits, the util- ity infielder filled an enormous need at second base and in the No. 2 hole. He delivered with three hits and three RBIs in an 8-4 victory over the San Diego Padres on Saturday night as the Giants clinched their second division crown in three years. ''You know what his nickname is? inside joke, a reference to the relative bargain Scutaro represents for as much as he has contributed in a mere two months to put the Giants back in prime position for another special ''Orange October,'' as they have taken to calling the playoffs. ''He's been unbelievable,'' short- stop Brandon Crawford said. ''Every- thing he swings at, it seems like it's a base hit. He's a professional hitter. He takes pitches that he doesn't like and swings at good pitches, and doesn't swing through anything. He's fun to watch.'' Scutaro has hits in 44 of his 53 games since the Giants acquired him from the Colorado Rockies on July 27. He is batting .304 overall with a career- high 68 RBIs — .361 with 38 RBIs and a team-best 78 hits since joining San Francisco. The Giants took on just $2.1 million of Scutaro's salary, and he has more than made it worthwhile. Especially when compared to the Los Angeles Dodgers' spending spree to move much of the Red Sox roster across the country. ''I'll tell you an interesting story. When I called Colorado and finalized the deal and talked to (GM) Dan O'Dowd, he raved about this guy,'' Sabean said. ''We did a lot of work on him but as far as the offensive output, we're probably all surprised at the rela- tive consistency. This guy's known around the league. If you watch his at- bats, they're incredibly professional. He's got a nose for an RBI. Colorado knew what they were losing and I actu- ally thanked Dan for allowing us to make the trade within the division — very fortunate to happen.'' They call him 'Blockbuster,''' Giants CEO Larry Baer said. ''He's been amazing.'' Blockbuster is a bit of a not-so- BEY going to have to contin- ue to evaluate and see where he's at. We were all pleased to see that it wasn't anything severe as far as neck injury or anything like that.'' (Continued from page 1B) The injury happened early in the fourth quar- ter of Oakland's 34-31 victory over the Pitts- burgh Steelers on Sun- day. Heyward-Bey was running across the end zone to catch a pass from Carson Palmer when Mundy launched his body and lowered his helmet into Heyward- Bey's facemask. jerked violently and his head also crashed into the ground as he lost consciousness. The pass was incomplete. Heyward-Bey's neck Mundy said after the game that he did not intentionally lead with his helmet and felt bad that another player was injured. believe there was any intent to injure on Mundy's part. Allen said he did not NASCAR Sprint Cup Points Leaders 1. Jimmie Johnson 2. Brad Keselowski 3. Denny Hamlin 4. Tony Stewart 5. Kasey Kahne 6. Clint Bowyer 7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 8. Kevin Harvick 9. Greg Biffle 10. Martin Truex Jr. 11. Matt Kenseth 12. Jeff Gordon 2,096 2,095 2,089 2,086 2,081 2,081 2,070 2,065 2,063 2,062 2,061 2,051 Remaining schedule Sept. 30 — AAA 400, Dover, Del. Oct. 7 — Good Sam Roadside Assis- tance 500, Talladega, Ala. Oct. 13 — Bank of America 500, Con- cord, N.C. Oct. 21 — Hollywood Casino 400, Kansas City, Kan. Oct. 28 — TUMS Fast Relief 500, Ridge- way, Va. Nov. 4 — AAA Texas 500, Fort Worth, Texas Nov. 11 — Phoenix 500, Avondale, Ariz. Nov. 18 — Ford EcoBoost 400, Home- stead, Fla. career-best hitting streak of 12 games, has certainly done his part to earn him- self a nice pay day moving forward. He can become a free agent after the sea- son. ''I take a lot of pride in my hitting, because for me that's the tougher thing to do,'' he said. ''You just try to go out there and not give any at-bats away. It's easy to say and hard to do. When you get like 600, 700 at-bats a year, there are going to be more bad ones than good ones.'' Scutaro's presence also has provid- ed plenty for clubhouse chemistry, which is evident most days when the Venezuelan's locker is surrounded by a Scutaro, who also has matched his football,'' Allen said. ''I don't think people are trying to go out there and hurt people. The safety was playing the game fast and physical. It's a tough game to play when you're making split-second decisions on how you play the game. It's the unfortu- nate things that happen in this game but we move on from it.'' ''It's the game of Heyward-Bey's eyes were shut for 10 minutes as trainers attended to him as he lay motion- less. He was strapped to a table and placed on a cart. As the cart started to leave the field, he raised his right hand to roaring cheers. said. ''I was actually out on the field watching everything as it took place. And it was a scary situation, and we're blessed and we're fortu- nate that he's going to be fine. That's part of this game that we play ''It was tough,'' Allen WNBA WESTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB z-Minnesota 27 7 .794 — x-Sparks x-San Antonio 21 13 .618 6 x-Seattle Tulsa Phoenix 24 10 .706 3 16 18 .471 11 9 25 .265 18 7 27 .206 20 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB z-Connecticut 25 9 .735 — x-Indiana x-Atlanta 22 12 .647 3 19 15 .559 6 x-New York 15 19 .441 10 Chicago x-clinched playoff spot z-clinched conference —————————————————— End of Regular Season CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS (Best-of-3) Thursday's games New York at Connecticut, 5 p.m. Series tied 0-0 San Antonio at Los Angeles, 7 p.m. Series tied 0-0 Friday's games Atlanta at Indiana, 4 p.m. Series tied 0-0 Seattle at Minnesota, 6 p.m. Series tied 0-0 14 20 .412 11 Washington 5 29 .147 20 handful of his Latino teammates as he tosses out jokes or stories to keep everybody loose. ''It's incredible what some of these guys individually are doing,'' pitcher Barry Zito said. ''Just look at Scutaro.'' This team has an ideal mix of chem- istry and talent, youth and experience. Hunter Pence came to the Giants from the Phillies three days after Scutaro, on July 30, and he has driven in 37 runs in 50 games. ''You can tell since Day 1 there's a group of guys in here, a great club- house, great teammates,'' Scutaro said. ''It didn't take me too long to get used to this. On the other hand, things are clicking. We started playing as a team — good defense, good offense, good pitching — that's when you start get- ting good results. Sometimes clicking just happens. Chemistry sometimes is hard to find.'' Scutaro was long a super-sub in four seasons across the bay with the A's, filling in wherever he was needed in the infield — and, on occasion, as an outfielder. Scutaro played 137 games during his first season with Oakland in 2004 and never more than that for the A's. Yet even there, in the early stages of his career, Scutaro became known for his game-winning hits. Playing time, that's something Scu- taro has tried not to worry about over the years, determined to make some- thing happen when he is on the field while also not trying to do too much. ''I always felt when I was in the lineup more often I was a better play- er,'' he said. ''Sometimes you just can't control those decisions, just be ready and wait for your opportunity. I always thank the A's for giving me an oppor- tunity to play in the big leagues. That's when everything started. If I didn't get an opportunity I probably would be in Triple-A or somewhere else than here.'' Scutaro's steady production has been a surprise to everyone. ''There's no panic in him,'' Bochy said. ''I know he's done a great job for us lately, but if you look at his past, his history, he's had a great career. At his age, to go out there every day it's pret- ty impressive.'' 49ERS (Continued from page 1B) board with the schedule — even if it means being away from family and friends for a week. Yet Harbaugh points to the handful of 49ers who will have a chance to get home to their families in Ohio and on the East Coast this week. ''I like that. Here, we get to go home after prac- tice,'' Frank Gore said, speaking of the Santa Clara team headquarters. ''We go to Youngstown, after practice we're all in the same hotels. I think that makes your team grow.'' On Monday, Harbaugh met Hall of Famer Jim Brown for the first time when they had lunch at the team hotel in Board- man. Brown, who knows the 49ers' York owner- ship family, was in town on business and met informally with Har- baugh, general manager Trent Baalke and some players. Gore was one of them, Harbaugh said. ''All the running backs made a point to shake hands and take picture and ask questions,'' he said. ''It was an honor. It was enlightening. I learned some good things, talking to Mr. Brown. My family, espe- cially my dad, has always been a big fan of Jim Brown. We covered sev- eral topics. Learned more about him, his story, how he saw the game. How he sees the game right now. That he loves football. And that he has a deep abiding respect for it. And he's someone that wants to see others bene- fit from what he knows. So, not hoarding that knowledge, but sharing it.'' And Scutaro hopes to help keep this roll going for another month. ''It's always fun when you win,'' he said, smiling, then headed outside to get to work. and it's a tough part of the game, but we're happy that Darrius is going to be fine.'' was a judgment call and did not blame the substi- tute officials who are calling games because the NFL has locked out the regulars, fans at the Coliseum started a derogatory chant aimed at the officials and some Raiders players com- plained. ''Obviously the refs, sometimes they're going to make the calls, some- times they're not,'' receiver Derek Hagan said after the game. ''I definitely don't want to rip into them, but I real- ly felt like it was one of those calls that should've been made. But they didn't throw the flag, they missed, it. Sometimes they're going to miss calls and it's very unfortunate that While Allen said it MLS WESTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA x-QUAKES 18 6 6 60 62 36 x-Galaxy 15 11 4 49 54 42 x-Salt Lake 15 11 4 49 40 34 Seattle 13 7 9 48 45 31 Vancouver 10 12 8 38 31 40 FC Dallas 9 12 9 36 35 38 Colorado 9 18 3 30 38 45 Portland 7 15 8 29 31 51 Chivas USA 7 15 7 28 21 45 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Kansas City16 7 7 55 37 25 Chicago 16 8 5 53 42 34 D.C. 15 10 5 50 47 39 New York 14 8 8 50 50 43 Houston 12 8 10 46 42 37 Columbus 13 11 6 45 36 37 Montreal 12 15 4 40 44 49 Philadelphia 8 14 6 30 29 33 N. England 7 15 8 29 37 41 Toronto FC 5 18 7 22 34 55 NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie. x- clinched playoff berth —————————————————— Friday's game Chicago at Kansas City, 5:30 p.m. Saturday's games FC Dallas at San Jose, 7:30 p.m. Toronto FC at New York, 4 p.m. Philadelphia at Columbus, 4:30 p.m. New England at Houston, 5:30 p.m. Seattle FC at Vancouver, 6 p.m. D.C. United at Portland, 7:30 p.m. Real Salt Lake at Chivas USA, 7:30 p.m. Sunday's game Los Angeles at Colorado, 4 p.m. a teammate of ours is down and injured.'' Heyward-Bey has nine catches for 98 yards and a touchdown this season. With his sta- tus up in the air, Allen said the team may need to look at bringing in another receiver this week. Heyward-Bey wasn't the only Raider to suffer a concussion from a hit by Mundy in the game. On the game-winning drive, tight end Brandon Myers was knocked out with a legal hit from Mundy. Allen said Myers felt fine Monday but would have to go through the concussion protocol before he can return. MLB West Division Texas A's Angels Seattle East Division New York Baltimore American League WL Pct GB 91 62 .595 — 86 67 .562 5 84 69 .549 7 72 81 .471 19 WL Pct GB 89 64 .582 — 88 66 .571 1.5 Tampa Bay 83 70 .542 6 Boston Toronto Central Division Chicago Detroit 69 85 .448 20.5 67 86 .438 22 WL Pct GB 82 71 .536 — 81 72 .529 1 Kansas City 70 83 .458 12 Minnesota 64 90 .416 18.5 Cleveland 63 91 .409 19.5 —————————————————— Monday's results Texas 5, Oakland 4 Baltimore 4, Toronto 1, 1st game Toronto 9, Baltimore 5, 2nd game Chicago White Sox 5, Cleveland 4 Detroit 6, Kansas City 2 N.Y.Yankees 6, Minnesota 3 Today's games Oakland (Milone 13-10) at Texas (Darvish 16-9), 5:05 p.m. Cleveland (Kluber 1-4) at Chicago (Liriano 6-11), 11:10 a.m. Kansas City (B.Chen 11-12) at Detroit (A.Sanchez 3-6), 4:05 p.m. Toronto (Laffey 3-6) at Baltimore (J.Saunders 2-2), 4:05 p.m. Tampa Bay (Price 18-5) at Boston (Buchholz 11-6), 4:10 p.m. N.Y.Yankees (P.Hughes 16-12) at Minnesota (Vasquez 0-2), 5:10 p.m. Seattle (Er.Ramirez 1-2) at L.A. Angels (Greinke 5-2), 7:05 p.m. Wednesday's games Oakland at Texas, 5:05 p.m. N.Y.Yankees at Minnesota, 10:10 a.m. Kansas City at Detroit, 4:05 p.m. Toronto at Baltimore, 4:05 p.m. Tampa Bay at Boston, 4:10 p.m. Cleveland at Chicago, 5:10 p.m. Seattle at L.A. Angels, 7:05 p.m. Knowing Harbaugh, he will find a way to weave some of that infor- mation into his conversa- tions with the team this week ahead of facing the Jets (2-1). Quarterback Alex Smith certainly will be eager to get back on the practice field after throw- ing his first interception late in the game. who was held to 63 yards on 12 carries and lost a fumble in the fourth quar- ter. Same goes for Gore, Smith had gone a fran- chise-best 249 straight passes without throwing a pick. He wound up 24 for 35 for 204 yards and a 1-yard touchdown pass to Vernon Davis on Sunday. ''Didn't execute, bad execution, especially on the offense side,'' Smith said. ''Leaving too much in the red zone. Didn't get into a rhythm. Con- MLB West Division x-GIANTS Dodgers Arizona Padres Colorado East Division z-Washington 93 60 .608 — Atlanta Central Division Philadelphia 77 76 .503 16 New York Miami x-Cincinnati 92 61 .601 — St. Louis WL Pct GB 88 65 .575 5 70 83 .458 23 66 87 .431 27 WL Pct GB 83 71 .539 9.5 Milwaukee 79 74 .516 13 Pittsburgh 75 78 .490 17 Chicago Houston z-clinched playoff berth x-clinched division —————————————————— Monday's results Colorado 4, Arizona 2 N.Y. Mets 6, Pittsburgh 2 St. Louis 6, Houston 1 Washington 12, Milwaukee 2 Today's games Arizona (Skaggs 1-3) at S.F. (Lincecum 10-14), 7:15 p.m. Washington (Lannan 3-0) at Philadelphia (Hamels 15-6), 4:05 p.m. Miami (Eovaldi 4-12) at Atlanta (Medlen 9-1), 4:10 p.m. Milwaukee (Fiers 9-8) at Cincinnati (Leake 8-9), 4:10 p.m. Pittsburgh (W.Rodriguez 11-13) at N.Y.Mets (McHugh 0-2), 4:10 p.m. St. Louis (J.Garcia 5-7) at Houston (Harrell 10-10), 5:05 p.m. Chicago Cubs (Rusin 1-2) at Colorado (J.De La Rosa 0-1), 5:40 p.m. L.A. Dodgers (Beckett 1-2) at San Diego (Volquez 10-11), 7:05 p.m. Wednesday's games Arizona at San Francisco, 7:15 p.m. L.A. Dodgers at San Diego, 3:35 p.m. Washington at Philadelphia, 4:05 p.m. Miami at Atlanta, 4:10 p.m. Milwaukee at Cincinnati, 4:10 p.m. Pittsburgh at N.Y. Mets, 4:10 p.m. St. Louis at Houston, 5:05 p.m. Chicago Cubs at Colorado, 5:40 p.m. 59 94 .386 33 50 104 .325 42.5 National League WL Pct GB 89 64 .582 — 79 74 .516 10 77 76 .503 12 73 80 .477 16 59 94 .386 30 tinually putting ourselves in third down situations, makes for a long day.'' n't share specifics about what he said to his team after losing to the Vikings, he made it clear his team will be ready for the next one Sunday against Tim Tebow and the Jets at the Meadow- lands. While Harbaugh did- ''What we believe in is pretty consistent. You find something to believe in and go to work on that,'' Harbaugh said. ''What we believe in is preparation. We go to work and we attack it. That's our message. ... We didn't play our best. We'll look at the ways to go to work and fix that — players, coaches — that's something we're shoul- dered with doing. That's our responsibility to get that done.'' Notes: LB Patrick Willis (sprained ankle) and NT Isaac Sopoaga (leg) each had X-rays that were negative. ''Yeah, turned out good for both of those guys,'' Harbaugh said. ... The 49ers announced that SAP would be the founding partner of the new stadium that's under construction adjacent to the Santa Clara facility. The practice center will be named the SAP Training Center. ... The Colts signed WR Nathan Palmer off San Francisco's squad. practice NCAA Top 25 Schedule Thursday's game No. 8 Stanford at Washington, 6 p.m. Saturday's games No. 1 Alabama vs. Mississippi, 6:15 p.m. No. 2 Oregon vs.Washington State at Seattle, 7:30 p.m. No. 3 LSU vs. Towson, 4 p.m. No. 4 Florida State at South Florida, 3 p.m. No. 5 Georgia vs. Tennessee, 12:30 p.m. No. 6 South Carolina at Kentucky, 4 p.m. No. 9 West Virginia vs.No.25 Baylor, 9 a.m. No. 12 Texas at Oklahoma State, 4:50 p.m. No.14 Ohio St.at No.20 Mich.St., 12:30 p.m. No. 15 TCU at SMU, 4 p.m. No.17 Clemson at Boston Co., 12:30 p.m. No. 18 Oregon St. vs.Washington St., 7 p.m. No. 19 Louisville at Southern Miss., 5 p.m. No. 22 Nebraska vs. Wisconsin, 5 p.m. No. 24 Boise State at New Mexico, 3 p.m. NFL AFC West WL T Pct PF PA Chargers 2 1 0 .667 63 51 Denver 1 2 0 .333 77 77 Kansas City 1 2 0 .333 68 99 RAIDERS 12 0 .333 61 88 East WL T Pct PF PA N.Y. Jets 2 1 0 .667 81 75 Buffalo 2 1 0 .667 87 79 N. England 1 2 0 .333 82 64 Miami South 1 2 0 .333 65 66 WL T Pct PF PA Houston 3 0 0 1.000 88 42 Jacksonville 1 2 0 .333 52 70 Tennessee 1 2 0 .333 67 113 Indianapolis 1 2 0 .333 61 83 North WL T Pct PF PA Baltimore 2 1 0 .667 98 67 Cincinnati 2 1 0 .667 85 102 Pittsburgh 1 2 0 .333 77 75 Cleveland 0 3 0 .000 57 75 NFC West WL T Pct PF PA Arizona 3 0 0 1.000 67 40 49ERS 21 0 .667 70 65 Seattle 2 1 0 .667 57 39 St. Louis 1 2 0 .333 60 78 East Dallas WL T Pct PF PA 2 1 0 .667 47 54 Philadelphia 2 1 0 .667 47 66 N.Y. Giants 2 1 0 .667 94 65 Washington 1 2 0 .333 99 101 South WL T Pct PF PA Atlanta 3 0 0 1.000 94 48 Tampa Bay 1 2 0 .333 60 67 Carolina 1 2 0 .333 52 79 N. Orleans 0 3 0 .000 83 102 North WL T Pct PF PA Minnesota 2 1 0 .667 70 59 Chicago 2 1 0 .667 74 50 Green Bay 1 2 0 .333 57 54 Detroit 1 2 0 .333 87 94 —————————————————— Week 3 results Thursday's result N.Y. Giants 36, Carolina 7 Sunday's results Minnesota 24, San Francisco 13 Oakland 34, Pittsburgh 31 Arizona 27, Philadelphia 6 Atlanta 27, San Diego 3 Baltimore 31, New England 30 Buffalo 24, Cleveland 14 Chicago 23, St. Louis 6 Cincinnati 38, Washington 31 Dallas 16, Tampa Bay 10 Houston 31, Denver 25 Jacksonville 22, Indianapolis 17 Kansas City 27, New Orleans 24, OT N.Y. Jets 23, Miami 20, OT Tennessee 44, Detroit 41, OT Monday's result Seattle 14, Green Bay 12 Week 4 schedule Thursday's game Cleveland at Baltimore, 5:20 p.m. Sunday's games San Francisco at N.Y. Jets, 10 a.m. Oakland at Denver, 1:05 p.m. Carolina at Atlanta, 10 a.m. Minnesota at Detroit, 10 a.m. New England at Buffalo, 10 a.m. San Diego at Kansas City, 10 a.m. Seattle at St. Louis, 10 a.m. Tennessee at Houston, 10 a.m. Cincinnati at Jacksonville, 1:05 p.m. Miami at Arizona, 1:05 p.m. New Orleans at Green Bay, 1:25 p.m. Washington at Tampa Bay, 1:25 p.m. N.Y. Giants at Philadelphia, 5:20 p.m. Monday's game Chicago at Dallas, 5:30 p.m. Open: Indianapolis, Pittsburgh