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2B Daily News – Tuesday, October 9, 2012 ley played catch in the sun-splashed outfield at Great American Ball Park, his usual routine the day before a start. Nothing different at all, as far as the Texan let on. ''You guys,'' he said afterward, ''it's just another game.'' Uh-uh. Not buying it. Everyone knows the Cincinnati Reds pitcher has a chance to exorcise a lot of bad post- season history — or add to it — with his next start. Less than two weeks after he threw the 15th no-hitter in the history of base- ball's first professional franchise, the 26-year-old Bailey has a chance to add another career moment. He can com- plete a division-series sweep of the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night. Up 2-0 in the series, the Reds need one more victory to advance, with as many as three chances left at home. It'll be a breakthrough if they get it. Cincinnati hasn't won a home play- Bailey can follow no-hitter with playoff clincher CINCINNATI (AP) — Homer Bai- Matt Cain had a perfect game for San Francisco. When Bailey starts on Tues- day, it'll mark the first time two players that threw no-hitters in the regular sea- son pitch on opposing teams in the same playoff series, according to STATS LLC. The Reds put themselves in position for a sweep by overcoming the loss of ace Johnny Cueto to a bad back in the first inning of the opener, then pulling out a 5-2 win. They won 9-0 on Sun- day night behind Bronson Arroyo's seven crisp innings, then tried to get a few hours of sleep on the overnight flight back to Ohio. The plane landed at 6:48 a.m., less than an hour before the sun came up. ''I slept on the plane, got here, got my stuff, got breakfast (at a restaurant) and went back to bed, slept a couple of hours and made myself get up,'' out- fielder Drew Stubbs said. ''Not an ideal amount of rest, but hopefully I get to catch up on it tonight.'' Stubbs, Bailey and a few other Reds off game in 17 years, a span of futility etched into the franchise's storied his- tory. Everyone remembers the Big Red Machine winning back-to-back World Series in 1975-76. The 1990 Nasty Boys team swept Oakland to win another. showed up at the ballpark in the after- noon for a light workout. Stubbs ran a few pass patterns as players threw a football on the field. The Giants stayed overnight on the der Ryan Vogelsong, who starts on Tuesday. ''And when you're talking about being down 0-2 in a series, you can't say it's just another game, either.'' If Vogelsong and the Giants can extend the series, Bochy said Monday that left-hander Barry Zito would start Game 4. And the Reds were still unsure whether Cueto would be avail- able. It'll be Bailey's first appearance at Great American Ball Park since his no- hitter in Pittsburgh on Sept. 28. He fol- lowed the no-hitter with four shutout innings in a 1-0 loss in the final game of the season at St. Louis, an easy out- ing to save him for the playoffs. Bailey led the NL with a 2.32 earned run average on the road this sea- son, but is only 18-19 with a 5.13 career ERA at Great American. It'll be the first time Reds fans get to recognize him for the no-hitter — not that he'll notice. ''I will probably be somewhat 49ERS (Continued from page 1B) oriented 49ers whipped the Buffalo Bills 45-3 by gain- ing a franchise-record 621 yards. San Francisco also became the first team in NFL history with 300 yards passing and 300 yards rush- ing in the same game. Harbaugh said Smith Since then? Little more than heart- break. Got swept by Atlanta in the 1995 NL championship series under manager Davey Johnson. Lost a one- game playoff for the NL wild card to the Mets in 1999 at Riverfront Stadi- um. Got swept by the Phillies in the first round two years ago. Maybe it's finally their time. ''I had this one kid give me a sweat- shirt that said, 'The Year of the 12,''' said manager Dusty Baker, who wears the uniform number. ''He gave it to me in spring training. I believe in that. I'm only going to see one '12 while I'm liv- ing. It's a special year. I just feel that it's our year.'' Their first shot at it will make major league history. The Giants and Reds both had pitchers throw no-hitters this year — West Coast and flew in during the afternoon, trying to get a little needed sleep in their own beds. Probably was- n't very restful — only four teams have overcome a 2-0 deficit in the division series. Manager Bruce Bochy couldn't tell by what he heard on the flight to Cincinnati that his team was down to its last loss. ''I think more than anything, they were relaxing back there, doing what they normally do,'' Bochy said. ''Some guys were playing cards. We did have some family on the trip and they were watching movies. There was really nothing any different than any trip we take. So I can't say I noticed anything different about it.'' Out of the conversation, but not out of the minds for the 2010 World Series champions. ''The cliche is to say it's just anoth- er game, but I feel 'just another game' doesn't count when you're talking about the postseason,'' said right-han- Leyland would have everybody hug it out and play ball. Just as Detroit's Justin Verlander and Coco Crisp of Oakland did on the field for Monday's workout day ahead of their teams' Game 3 in the AL divi- sion series Tuesday. The Tigers lead 2- 0 and are one win from advancing to a second straight AL championship series. Leyland insists reliever Al Albur- querque meant no ill will toward the Athletics when he fielded Yoenis Ces- pedes' ninth-inning comebacker and quickly kissed the ball before throwing to first. Yet the manager disagreed with the display. ''Everybody always says I'm from the old school, so I'd have probably hugged it first,'' Leyland joked. ''I don't think it was the right thing to do. I will sit here today and I will not try to defend it. I will say that I can assure everybody, including the Oakland A's, Al Alburquerque did nothing intention- ally to offend the Oakland A's. A lot of emotion is shown in different ways in the game anymore. You see a lot of dif- ferent variations of personal celebra- OAK (Continued from page 1B) the 1970s. He brought in a defense that featured multi- ple fronts and coverages and was supposed to have more blitzes than Oakland was used to using. That new variety hasn't led to new success so far as the Raiders have allowed 125 points in the first four games — the most at this point of the season since 1962. Oakland is giving up 411.5 yards per game, allow- ing opponents to complete 71.5 percent of their passes and has managed just three sacks and three turnovers in four games. ''We got to have 11 peo- ple flying around to the foot- ball, flying around like their hair is on fire,'' Allen said. ''That's the way you play defensive football. It's been that way since the beginning of time, and it won't change.'' Part of the problem can be attributed to injuries to start- ing cornerbacks Ron Bartell and Shawntae Spencer. Bartell went out with a bro- ken shoulder blade in the season opener against San Diego and Spencer sprained tions as well as team celebrations. ''It wasn't a smart thing to do, but I can honestly tell you that there is no way that Al Alburquerque or any members of the Detroit Tigers would ever do anything intentionally to offend another team. It just would not hap- pen,'' Leyland said. oblivious to it, just like any starter on game day,'' Bailey said. ''Unless there is a streaker running across, you don't pay attention, you're just focused on what you're doing.'' Bailey will be well-rested. He flew home with Cueto on Sunday, got home and watched the last few innings of the Reds' win on television. It'll be Baker's first game back in Cincinnati since Sept. 12. He was hos- pitalized while the team was in Chica- go for an irregular heartbeat and a mini-stroke. He rejoined the team for the final series in St. Louis, then flew to the West Coast and got an ovation when introduced before the first play- off game. Baker was still in a Chicago hospi- tal bed when the Reds clinched at home on Sept. 22 — players toasted him in the clubhouse before spraying each other. He was in Cincinnati rest- ing when Bailey threw his no-hitter in Pittsburgh. He'll get another ovation when he's introduced on Tuesday night, though it's nothing he's anticipating. ''I didn't think about getting a reception in San Francisco,'' the 63- year-old manager said. ''I'm just doing my job.'' Leyland: Alburquerque's kiss meant no disrespect OAKLAND (AP) — Ideally, Jim As upstart Oakland returned home hoping to pull off another improbable sweep like the one against Texas last week to capture the AL West crown, that controversial smooch was still plenty talked about in both clubhouses. Alburquerque said he did speak to his teammates, and that they knew his gesture was ''within the emotion of the game.'' ''I respect Cespedes and I didn't do it out of disrespect,'' the pitcher said. ''I was just excited to get the out.'' Still, that didn't mean the Tigers weren't surprised by it. ''I said, 'Did I see what I just saw?''' catcher Gerald Laird said. Cespedes was eager to get to his baseball work Monday, saying: ''That's his problem. It doesn't bother me. It was his turn to win. Someday it will be my turn.'' Even though everybody realized full well they should be focused on the game itself. ''I know him, so I know he didn't his right foot the following week in a loss to Miami. least Nov. 11 and Spencer remains in a walking boot and has not been cleared to practice. The injuries have forced Huff to move from free safety to cornerback, where he has allowed nine catches on 15 throws for 145 yards and two touchdowns in his two starts on the outside, according to STATS LLC. Bartell will be out until at Pat Lee, who started one game in three seasons in Green Bay, has played the other side. The inexperience at cornerback has limited some of what the new defense can do. When the Raiders have blitzed so far this season it has been most- ly unsuccessful. They got one sack of Philip Rivers on the first drive of the opener against the Chargers. But they have no sacks on the NASCAR Spring Cup Points Leaders 1, Brad Keselowski 2,142 2, Jimmie Johnson 2,137 3, Denny Hamlin 4, Clint Bowyer 5, Tony Stewart 6, Kasey Kahne 2,126 2,117 2,110 2,110 7, Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2,103 8, Martin Truex Jr. 9, Kevin Harvick 10, Jeff Gordon 11, Greg Biffle 12, Matt Kenseth 2,100 2,096 2,094 2,091 2,070 mean much by it,'' injured A's third baseman and former Tiger Brandon Inge said. ''But I'm sure he's going to regret it. Honestly, this is something that's going to be blown out of propor- tion because it's a unique story and it's something that doesn't happen much. For us, our ultimate retaliation or comeback would be to win three. We're not concerned with the actions of one person. On their side, I'm sure he didn't really want to stir up a hor- net's nest over here either.'' Right-hander Anibal Sanchez (4-6), a midseason acquisition from Miami who was steady down the stretch, will try to pitch the Tigers to another post- season sweep of Oakland. Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabr- era is still looking for his first RBI of the series, but is hitting .375 (3 for 8) with two doubles, no strikeouts and a walk. ''just is a better player'' than the former quarterback ever was, even when Harbaugh became the 1995 NFL Comeback Player of the Year in Indianapolis, and has been instrumental in the 49ers' evolution. ''I can't tell you how much respect I have for him,'' Harbaugh said. ''He plays so well, handles him- self. He does all the things. I look back and say, 'I wish I could have done as good a job as he's done on and off the field.''' Since last year's devas- tating home loss in the NFC title game, 49ers fans could only imagine the possibili- ties if Smith and the offense ever matched the defense's dominance. Smith relentlessly at Can- dlestick and cheered for backup David Carr in a 27- 24 loss to Philadelphia, Smith's passer rating is the NFL's best. Smith (108.7) is ahead of Atlanta's Matt Ryan (106.1), Houston's Matt Schaub (105.3), New England's Tom Brady (102.8) and Denver's Pey- ton Manning (101.2), whom the 49ers pursued in the off- season before re-signing Smith to a three-year deal. In all, Smith has thrown for 1,087 yards and eight touchdowns to one intercep- tion to pull the 49ers back into a tie with Arizona (4-1) for the NFC West lead. And after shredding the Jets 34-0 last week, they've outscored opponents 79-3 in their last two games heading into the third straight week against a New York team, eclipsing marks that Hall of Famers Joe Montana and Steve Young and Jerry Rice could never even reach in the process. Imagine no more. In the grand scheme of a 16-game season, all the yards and all the records still only add up to one win against a Buffalo team that has been embarrassed in back-to-back weeks. Even so, it's hard to overlook what San Francisco might be capable of if Smith and his receivers can play like this. ''That's a huge honor, a huge honor,'' Davis said. ''It's amazing just being a part of it, being a part of something special. And it's only the beginning. That's the way I feel.'' ——— Back in January, Michael Crabtree's one catch for 3 yards accounted for all of San Francisco's production from its wide receivers. The rest came from tight ends and running back Frank Gore, and even all those only amounted to a dozen for 196 yards. In the victory against Buffalo, Crabtree had seven catches for 113 yards and a touchdown, tight end Ver- non Davis had seven catch- es for 106 yards and new- comers Mario Manningham and Randy Moss — who again played sparingly and was only targeted twice — stretched the field enough to open lanes for Smith's pass- es. NOTES: RB Brandon Jacobs, who practiced throughout last week, is ''still not quite there'' in his rehabilitation from a left knee injury that occurred in the preseason, Harbaugh said. Jacobs will be ques- tionable to make his 49ers debut again this week against his former team. ... Harbaugh, unprompted, praised Moss' contributions and said they often don't show up in statistics, saying ''it's just a matter of time before we see the big-catch day that everybody seems to always pin their evaluations on.'' Moss was targeted twice in the last two games and caught one pass for 11 yards against Buffalo. ... Harbaugh said the 49ers had until 1 p.m. local time Tues- day to activate LB Clark Haggans, who has served his three-game suspension relating to a 2011 DUI in Arizona. Lefty Brett Anderson (4-2) gets the ball in his postseason debut as the A's try to prolong their season for one more day. Anderson, who looked strong in six starts after a 14-month absence recovering from elbow ligament- replacement surgery, is coming back from a right oblique injury he sustained falling awkwardly off the mound in a start at Detroit on Sept. 19. other 52 pass plays against the blitz, allowing 38 com- pletions for 442 yards and three touchdowns for a pass- er rating of 117.6, according to STATS. Opponents have been mostly completing short passes against the Raiders, with the average completion coming 5.1 yards down the field compared to 6.9 a year ago. That's the second-short- est average completion mark for any defense this season and the lowest for the Raiders since the statistic was first measured in 1992 as opponents have feasted on quick passes against zone coverage. you've got to play man, like the old days,'' Huff said. ''Got to throw quick passes, got to play more man cover- age, get tighter to the receivers, because obviously ''That's kind of when WNBA CONFERENCE FINALS (Best-of-3) Eastern Conference Connecticut 1, Indiana 1 Game 1: Connecticut 76, Indiana 64 Game 2: Indiana 78, Connecticut 76 Thursday: at Connecticut, 5:30 p.m. Western Conference Minnesota 2, Los Angeles 0 Game 1: Minnesota 94, Los Angeles 77 Game 2: Minnesota 80, Los Angeles 79 there's holes in every zone, so I think games like that you've got to play more man. So we'll see.'' have been on third down where Oakland is allowing a league-worst 53.3 percent conversion rate — on pace for the worst mark in NFL history. ''You're not going to win The biggest problems ''He was just on fire and on the money,'' said 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman, whom Harbaugh called the ''shining light'' in San Francisco's schemes, which also include an ever- expanding role for wildcat quarterback Colin Kaeper- nick and a version of the Pistol offense Kaepernick ran at Nevada. ''It's amazing. We were NFL AFC West WL T Pct Chargers 3 2 0 .600 Denver 2 3 0 .400 RAIDERS 130 .250 Kansas City 1 4 0 .200 East WL T Pct N. England 3 2 0 .600 N.Y. Jets 2 3 0 .400 Miami 2 3 0 .400 Buffalo 2 3 0 .400 South WL T Pct very creative on offense,'' left tackle Joe Staley said. ''We've seen more and more as far as creativity goes on offense. We're mix- ing up the packages and personnel and it keeps the defense on their toes. They have to prepare for so much.'' Smith's resurgence has been one of the main rea- sons San Francisco can dig deeper into its playbook. Almost two years to the day since 49ers fans booed MLB PLAYOFFS WILD CARD National League: St. Louis 6, Atlanta 3 American League: Baltimore 5, Texas 1 many games in this league if you can't win on third down,'' defensive tackle Richard Seymour said. ''I just think if we look our- selves in the mirror and say, each guy instead of looking around saying what someone else should be doing, if we take that and lay the burden on our shoulders, we'll be where we want to be.'' NCAA Top 25 Schedule Saturday's games No. 1 Alabama at Missouri, 12:30 p.m. No. 3 South Carolina at No. 9 LSU, 5 p.m. No. 4 Florida at Vanderbilt, 3 p.m. No. 5 West Virginia at Texas Tech, 12:30 p.m. No. 6 Kansas State at Iowa State, 9 a.m. No.7 Notre Dame vs.No.17 Stanford, 12:30 p.m. No. 8 Ohio State at Indiana, 5 p.m. No. 10 Oregon State at BYU, 12:30 p.m. No. 11 Southern Cal at Washington, 4 p.m. No. 12 Florida St. vs. Boston Co., 2:30 p.m. No.13 Oklahoma vs.No. 15 Texas, 9 a.m. No. 18 Louisville at Pittsburgh, 9 a.m. No. 19 Mississippi St. vs.Tennessee, 6 p.m. No. 20 Rutgers vs. Syracuse, 9 a.m. No. 21 Cincinnati vs. Fordham, 4 p.m. No.22 Tex.A&M at No.23 Louis.Tech, 6:15 p.m. No. 24 Boise St. vs.Fresno State, 12:30 p.m. No. 25 Michigan vs. Illinois, 12:30 p.m. DIVISION SERIES (Best-of-5; x-if necessary) American League Detroit 2, Oakland 0 Game 1: Detroit 3, Oakland 1 Game 2: Detroit 5, Oakland 4 Today: Detroit (Sanchez 4-6) at Oakland (Anderson 4-2), 6:07 p.m. x-Wednesday: Detroit (Scherzer 16-7) at Oakland, TBD (TBS or MLB) x-Thursday: Detroit (Verlander 17-8) at Oakland, TBD (TBS) Baltimore 1, New York 1 Game 1: New York 7, Baltimore 2 Game 2: Baltimore 3, New York 2 Wednesday: Baltimore at N.Y. (Kuroda 16-11), TBD (TBD) x-Thursday: Baltimore at New York (Hughes 16-13), TBD (TBS) x-Friday: Baltimore at New York, TBD (TBS) National League Cincinnati 2, San Francisco 0 Game 1: Cincinnati 5, San Francisco 2 Game 2: Cincinnati 9, San Francisco 0 Today: San Francisco (Vogelsong 14-9) at Cincinnati (Bailey 13-10), 2:37 p.m. x-Wednesday: San Francisco at Cincinnati (TBD), TBD x-Thursday1: San Francisco at Cincinnati, TBD (TBS) St. Louis 1,Washington 1 Game 1:Washington 3, St. Louis 2 Game 2: St. Louis 12, Washington 4 Wednesday: St. Louis at Washington, TBD (TBS or MLB) x-Thursday: St. Louis at Washington, TBD (TBS) x-Friday: St. Louis at Washington, TBD (TBS) Houston 5 0 0 1.000 Indianapolis 2 2 0 .500 Jacksonville 1 4 0 .200 Tennessee 1 4 0 .200 North WL T Pct Baltimore 4 1 0 .800 Cincinnati 3 2 0 .600 Pittsburgh 2 2 0 .500 Cleveland 0 5 0 .000 NFC East WL T Pct Philadelphia 3 2 0 .600 N.Y. Giants 3 2 0 .600 Dallas 2 2 0 .500 Washington 2 3 0 .400 South WL T Pct Atlanta 5 0 0 1.000 Tampa Bay 1 3 0 .250 Carolina 1 4 0 .200 N. Orleans 1 4 0 .200 North WL T Pct Minnesota 4 1 0 .800 Chicago 4 1 0 .800 Green Bay 2 3 0 .400 Detroit 1 3 0 .250 West WL T Pct Arizona 4 1 0 .800 49ERS 410 .800 St. Louis 3 2 0 .600 Seattle 3 2 0 .600 _________________________________ Week 5 results Thursday's result St. Louis 17, Arizona 3 Sunday's results San Francisco 45, Buffalo 3 Atlanta 24, Washington 17 Baltimore 9, Kansas City 6 Chicago 41, Jacksonville 3 Indianapolis 30, Green Bay 27 Miami 17, Cincinnati 13 Minnesota 30, Tennessee 7 New England 31, Denver 21 New Orleans 31, San Diego 24 N.Y. Giants 41, Cleveland 27 Pittsburgh 16, Philadelphia 14 Seattle 16, Carolina 12 Monday's result Houston 23, N.Y. Jets 17 Week 6 Schedule Thursday's game Pittsburgh at Tennessee, 5:20 p.m. Sunday's games Oakland at Atlanta, 10 a.m. N.Y. Giants at San Francisco, 1:25 p.m. Cincinnati at Cleveland, 10 a.m. Dallas at Baltimore, 10 a.m. Detroit at Philadelphia, 10 a.m. Indianapolis at N.Y. Jets, 10 a.m. Kansas City at Tampa Bay, 10 a.m. St. Louis at Miami, 10 a.m. Buffalo at Arizona, 1:05 p.m. New England at Seattle, 1:05 p.m. Minnesota at Washington, 1:25 p.m. Green Bay at Houston, 5:20 p.m. Monday's game Denver at San Diego, 5:30 p.m. Open: Carolina, Chicago, Jacksonville, New Orleans