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Sports 1B Monday April 26, 2010 OAKLAND (AP) — Eric Chavez has been through so much physically in recent years he won’t allow himself to get overly excited about one big day with the bat. It’s a constant process for Oak- land’s converted designated hitter to keep himself ready: warming up, stretching, hitting the weight room after games before finally recovering. Whatever it takes. Chavez hit a two-run double and also singled in run to help Gio Gonzalez win for the first time in three starts, and the Athletics pounded the Cleveland Indians 11-0 on Sunday to take the series. ‘‘Does it feel good? Yeah. Does it mean I’m going to go on a hot streak the next month? I don’t know anything about that,’’ Chavez said. ‘‘There’s been really good days and really bad days. It feels like I’ve been seeing the ball really good all year, but I’ve been missing so many pitches. I’m still trying to find that flatline where I can just worry about baseball.’’ Kevin Kouzmanoff returned to the A’s lineup and added a three- run double. He sat out Saturday to give him time to heal after fouling a pitch off his foot. Kouzmanoff’s fifth-inning hit chased Justin Masterson (0-3). Eric Patterson homered and hit a two-run triple, matching his career high with three RBIs. For Chavez, this was an encouraging sign after several frustrating, injury-filled seasons. The six-time Gold Glove third baseman is now the A’s designat- ed hitter batting in the cleanup spot. Chavez, limited to eight games in his injury-shortened 2009 cam- paign, drove in three runs for the first time since June 3, 2008, against Detroit. He underwent season-ending back surgery last June and has had five operations since Sept. 5, 2007, including two Triple-double for James CHICAGO (AP) — LeBron James insisted there was nothing unusual about the shot, that he’s per- fectly comfortable taking it. Never mind that he unleashed it from nearly halfcourt. James’ jumper — from a spot that requires a heave for many players — was just part of the show on a day when he delivered his fifth career postseason triple-double with 37 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. That led the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 121-98 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday and a 3-1 lead in their first- round series. ‘‘I’ve done some great things in the past, I’ll do some great things in the future,’’ he said. ‘‘But we’re in the present now, and I’m feeling pretty good.’’ The Cavaliers led by 10 at halftime after scoring 38 in the second quarter and broke it open with a 37-point third, putting them in position to close it out at home on Tuesday. James was at it again after scoring 40 and 39 the previous two games, connecting whenever he wanted and from wherever he wanted. He was 6 of 9 on 3-pointers, including a jumper from just inside midcourt at the end of the third that made it 99-76. ‘‘I can comfortably shoot that shot,’’ James said. ‘‘It was a regular jump shot for me. Comfortably, I can walk and dribble into a halfcourt 3.’’ James certainly made it look easy against the Bulls. ‘‘He was extremely active all over the place,’’ coach Mike Brown said. ‘‘He really set the tone defensively. He was terrific for us on the weakside. He was great for us on the ball, and he talked defense the whole game.’’ He had plenty of help from Antawn Jamison, who scored 12 of his 24 in the third quarter, not to men- tion Mo Williams (19 points). Chicago got 21 apiece from Der- rick Rose and Joakim Noah, who also pulled down 20 rebounds, but the Bulls settled for jump shots once they fell behind. Now, they are on the verge of their second straight first-round exit after a thorough beating by the East- ern Conference’s top seed. ‘‘I just think we weren’t very tough microdiscectomy surgeries in dif- ferent spots in his back. The double snapped an 0-for-17 stretch by Chavez with runners in scoring position. ‘‘It’s going to con- tinue to get better,’’ he said of his road back. ‘‘I knew early on it would be an up-and-down ride for me. As long as I can continue climbing that wall.’’ Jake Fox and Adam Rosales each singled in a run as the A’s did plenty to support Gonzalez (2-1), who escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth but otherwise was Chavez leads Oakland in rout of Indians hardly challenged. Gonzalez bounced back after he was tagged for five runs and three hits in 4 1-3 innings of a 7-3 loss to the New York Yankees on Tues- day. He matched his career high by going seven innings. He allowed five hits, struck out three and walked two. ‘‘It’s awesome when you can go seven innings like that and the offense takes a load off your shoulders,’’ Gonzalez said. ‘‘Scoring 11, it’s unbe- lievable.’’ Penny, Cards shut down Giants, 2-0 SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Brad Penny didn’t throw a single pitch as hard as he could. San Francis- co’s hitters were swinging so early in the count, the St. Louis right-hander never had to. Because of it, the Cardinals avoided being swept by the Giants for the first time in nine years and extended their lead to 2 1/2 games in the NL Central. ‘‘It’s probably the first time in my whole career I’ve done that,’’ Penny said after combining with two other pitch- ers on a nine-hit shutout while leading St. Louis to a 2- 0 win on Sunday. ‘‘But they kind of helped me by swinging at the first and second pitch. I wasn’t getting deep into counts. They’re such an aggressive team that even when I went 3-1 I was throwing splitties out of the zone and they were chasing them.’’ Penny (3-0) gave up eight hits over 7 2-3 innings, striking out two with no walks while outpitching for- mer teammate Matt Cain. The Cardinals’ right-hander, who played for San Francisco during the second half of 2009, didn’t allow a runner past second base while low- ering his ERA to 0.94. MCT photo Chicago Bulls' Taj Gibson, center, is fouled by Cleveland Cavaliers' Shaquille O'Neal, left, as Anthony Parker, right, assists on the play in Chicago Sunday. mentally today,’’ Noah said. ‘‘We were playing good ball and then just collapsed. We’re a young team and have to learn from this.’’ The Cavaliers were simply locked in after a two-point loss in Game 3. They shot 53 percent and outscored Chicago 40-34 in the paint after being dominated there 94-70 the previous two games. Then again, this is nothing new for the burly pitcher. Since the start of September last season, Penny has pitched seven or more innings and allowed two runs or fewer nine times, tops in the major leagues. ‘‘He’s really going after hitters,’’ St. Louis manager Tony LaRussa said. ‘‘He’s just using a variety of stuff, no patterns. This whole series, the six (starters) all pitched well. It was a tough weekend for hitters.’’ St. Louis got solid efforts from left-hander Jaime Garcia on Friday and righty Adam Wainwright on Sat- urday but both were overshadowed by the Giants’ duo of Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito, who combined to allow one run and nine hits in 15 innings. Penny and Cain, who had adjoining lockers in San Francisco’s clubhouse last season, appeared headed for a third straight pitcher’s duel in the series before the Giants’ impatience at the plate gave Penny the edge he needed. Harvick nips McMurray for Talladega victory TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — Kevin Harvick executed the pass exactly how his team drew it up in the playbook. With a last-second slingshot past Jamie McMurray, Harvick snapped a 115-race winless drought with an overdue victory Sunday at Talladega Superspeed- way. It was the payoff for perfect strategy devised in conversations over the weekend with crew chief Gil Martin and their Richard Chil- dress Racing team. Harvick lurked behind in traf- fic, trying to move his way into second place as the race hit the closing laps. His plan was to set himself up for one attempt at the BOWLING Scores from Lariat Bowl for the week of April 19-23. Monday Mixed Nuts Allen Kapaska 278 - 729 Dawn Moline 240 - 628 Wednesday Mens Commercial Kory Gunderman 259 - 691 Chris Goddard 249 - 736 Ken Hartman 249 - 666 Travis Zumalt 238 - 692 Friday Night Adam & Eve Fred Zastrow 201 - 553 Chris Gulliford 201 - 502 Paula Grossman 175 - 480 Bobbie Powell 175 - 440 MLB American League At A Glance By The Associated Press East Division WL Pct GB Tampa Bay 14 5 .737 — New York 12 6 .6671 1/2 Toronto 10 9 .526 4 Boston 8 11.421 6 Baltimore 3 16.158 11 Central Division WL Pct GB Minnesota 13 6 .684 — Detroit 10 9 .526 3 Cleveland 8 10.4444 1/2 Chicago 8 11.421 5 Kansas City7 11.3895 1/2 West Division WL Pct GB Oakland 12 8 .600 — lead, which he made roughly 500 yards from the finish line by slid- ing inside of McMurray then drag-racing him to the checkered flag. ‘‘We made a plan, and I’m telling you, every piece of it played out exactly how we wanted to play it,’’ Harvick said. ‘‘Coming into to the last lap, that’s exactly how we planned it out on paper.’’ The win gave Harvick his first victory since the 2007 season- opening Daytona 500, and it came in the longest Talladega race in Sprint Cup history. Because NASCAR’s new overtime rule allows for three attempts at its ver- sion of overtime, the race went 12 Los Angeles1010.500 2 Seattle 9 10.4742 1/2 Texas 8 10.444 3 ——— Saturday’s Games Cleveland 6, Oakland 1 N.Y. Yankees 7, L.A. Angels 1 Chicago White Sox 5, Seattle 4 Tampa Bay 9, Toronto 3 Boston 7, Baltimore 6 Minnesota 9, Kansas City 7, 12 innings Detroit 8, Texas 4 Sunday’s Games Baltimore 7, Boston 6, 10 innings Tampa Bay 6, Toronto 0 Chicago White Sox 3, Seattle 2 Kansas City 4, Minnesota 3 Texas 8, Detroit 4 L.A. Angels 8, N.Y. Yankees 4 Oakland 11, Cleveland 0 Monday’s Games Boston (Beckett 1-0) at Toronto (Eve- land 2-0), 4:10 p.m. Detroit (Bonderman 1-1) at Texas (Har- rison 0-1), 5:05 p.m. Seattle (F.Hernandez 2-0) at Kansas City (Davies 1-1), 5:10 p.m. Cleveland (D.Huff 1-2) at L.A. Angels (Jer.Weaver 2-0), 7:05 p.m. National League East Division WL Pct GB Philadelphia11 7 .611 — Florida 10 9 .5261 1/2 Washington10 9 .5261 1/2 New York 9 9 .500 2 Atlanta 8 9 .4712 1/2 Central Division WL Pct GB St. Louis 11 7 .611 — eye on the finish line and the other in his rearview mirror, certain that Harvick’s lone attempt to pass would be on the outside. He was wrong. ‘‘I really thought that Kevin laps past the scheduled distance of 188 trips around the 2.66-mile superspeedway. It covered a record 88 lead changes among a record 29 dri- vers, and the final pass was the one that had everyone talking. ‘‘I hate to show my age, but that was a tremendous pass just like the old days, like you would have seen Buddy Baker or Cale Yarborough,’’ Martin said. ‘‘That Chicago 9 10.4742 1/2 Houston 8 10.444 3 Milwaukee 8 10.444 3 Cincinnati 8 11.4213 1/2 Pittsburgh 7 11.389 4 West Division WL Pct GB San Diego 11 7 .611 — San Francisco 10 8 .556 1 Colorado 10 9 .5261 1/2 Arizona 8 10.444 3 Los Angeles8 10.444 3 ——— Saturday’s Games L.A. Dodgers 4, Washington 3, 13 innings N.Y. Mets 3, Atlanta 1 San Diego 5, Cincinnati 0 Florida 4, Colorado 1, 1st game Houston 5, Pittsburgh 2 Chicago Cubs 5, Milwaukee 1 Philadelphia 3, Arizona 2 Colorado 8, Florida 1, 2nd game San Francisco 2, St. Louis 0 Sunday’s Games Cincinnati 5, San Diego 4 Washington 1, L.A. Dodgers 0 Houston 10, Pittsburgh 3 Chicago Cubs 12, Milwaukee 2 St. Louis 2, San Francisco 0 Arizona 8, Philadelphia 6 Colorado 8, Florida 4 Atlanta at N.Y. Mets, 8:05 p.m. Monday’s Games L.A. Dodgers (Kuroda 2-0) at N.Y. Mets (O.Perez 0-2), 4:10 p.m. San Diego (Latos 1-1) at Florida (Jo.Johnson 1-1), 4:10 p.m. Washington (Lannan 1-1) at Chicago Cubs (Silva 2-0), 5:05 p.m. was a tremendous pass, and it was timed perfectly.’’ McMurray, this year’s Daytona 500 winner after winning the October race at Talladega, could- n’t hide his disappointment at mis- playing the final half-lap. Seeking his third consecutive restrictor- plate victory, he stretched his fuel tank to the bitter end while racing wide-open to the finish line. He held the bottom line, one SCOREBOARD Pittsburgh (Duke 2-1) at Milwaukee (Gallardo 1-2), 5:10 p.m. Atlanta (T.Hudson 1-1) at St. Louis (Lohse 0-1), 5:15 p.m. Arizona (Haren 2-1) at Colorado (Ham- mel 0-1), 5:40 p.m. Philadelphia (Halladay 4-0) at San Francisco (J.Sanchez 1-1), 7:15 p.m. NBA Playoff Glance By The Associated Press FIRST ROUND (Best-of-7) Saturday, April 17 Cleveland 96, Chicago 83 Atlanta 102, Milwaukee 92 Boston 85, Miami 76 Denver 126, Utah 113 Sunday, April 18 L.A. Lakers 87, Oklahoma City 79 Orlando 98, Charlotte 89 Dallas 100, San Antonio 94 Portland 105, Phoenix 100 Monday, April 19 Cleveland 112, Chicago 102 Utah 114, Denver 111 Tuesday, April 20 Atlanta 96, Milwaukee 86 Boston 106, Miami 77 Phoenix 119, Portland 90 L.A. Lakers 95, Oklahoma City 92 Wednesday, April 21 Orlando 92, Charlotte 77 San Antonio 102, Dallas 88 Thursday, April 22 Chicago 108, Cleveland 106 Oklahoma City 101, L.A. Lakers 96 Phoenix 108, Portland 89 Friday, April 23 Boston 100, Miami 98 San Antonio 94, Dallas 90, San Anto- nio leads series 2-1 Utah 105, Denver 93, Utah leads series 2-1 Saturday, April 24 Orlando 90, Charlotte 86, Orlando leads series 3-0 Portland 96, Phoenix 87, series tied 2- 2 Milwaukee 107, Atlanta 89, Atlanta leads series 2-1 Oklahoma City 110, L.A. Lakers 89, series tied 2-2 Sunday, April 25 Miami 101, Boston 92, Boston leads series 3-1 Cleveland 121, Chicago 98, Cleveland leads series 3-1 Dallas at San Antonio, 4 p.m. Denver at Utah, 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 26 Orlando at Charlotte, 5 p.m. Atlanta at Milwaukee, 5:30 p.m. Portland at Phoenix, 7:30 p.m. NHL Playoff Glance By The Associated Press FIRST ROUND (Best-of-7) Friday, April 23 Montreal 2, Washington 1, Washington leads series 3-2 Buffalo 4, Boston 1, Boston leads series 3-2 Vancouver 7, Los Angeles 2, Vancou- ver leads series 3-2 Detroit 4, Phoenix 1 Saturday, April 24 Chicago 5, Nashville 4, OT, Chicago leads series 3-2 Pittsburgh 4, Ottawa 3, OT, Pittsburgh wins series 4-2 San Jose 5, Colorado 2, San Jose wins series 4-2 Sunday, April 25 Phoenix 5, Detroit, 2, series tied 3-3 Vancouver at Los Angeles, 6 p.m. Monday, April 26 Washington at Montreal, 4 p.m. Buffalo at Boston, 4 p.m. Chicago at Nashville, 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 27 x-Los Angeles at Vancouver, TBA Detroit at Phoenix, TBA Wednesday, April 28 x-Montreal at Washington, TBA x-Boston at Buffalo, 7 p.m. x-Nashville at Chicago, TBA MOVES BASEBALL National League COLORADO ROCKIES—Placed OF Brad Hawpe on the 15-day DL. Recalled OF Eric Young Jr. from Col- orado Springs (PCL). HOUSTON ASTROS—Announced RHP Yorman Bazardo has accepted his outright assignment to Round Rock (PCL). PITTSBURGH PIRATES—Placed P Chris Jakubauskas on the 15-day DL. Recalled LHP Brian Burres from Indi- anapolis (IL). Selected the contract of RHP Brian Bass from Indianapolis. Optioned RHP Daniel McCutchen to Indianapolis. Designated OF Brandon Jones for assignment. was going to go high,’’ McMur- ray said after his second-place finish. ‘‘I felt like I was close enough to the yellow line that there was a lot more racetrack to the right. I was really guarding against the outside. It’s hard to explain to you guys that aren’t in cars, but when there’s someone directly behind you and they pull their car out of line really fast, it’s like you pull a parachute in your car.