GRP Sports Coverage entry #3

IN BRIEFNHL

Red Wings sign Bertuzzi

Todd Bertuzzi is not the physical presence he was during his prime, but the Detroit Red Wings still value

his size, strength and net-front ability. They believe it would have cost more to replace him in the free-agent market than to re-sign him. So they’re happy

he agreed Wednesday to a two-year contract for $3.875 million. Bertuzzi had 18 goals and 26 assists in 82 games last season. He picked up two goals and nine assists in 12 playoff games. Bertuzzi will earn $2.25 million next season and $1.625 million in 2011-12.

GM Ken Holland, assistant GM Jim Nill sign contract extensions, B6

COLLEGE SPORTS

Pac-10 after UtahUtah is poised to become the 12th member of the Pac-10 as the conference quickly pivoted Wednesday to invite the Utes after being turned down by Texas and four other members of the Big 12 two days ago. Utah officials did not immediately say whether the invitation would be accepted, but it would be shocking if the Utes didn’t leave the Mountain West Conference for the Pac-10. The athletics department is expected to comment today, after the school’s board of trustees meets to discuss the school’s conference affiliation.

BASEBALL

KC gets All-Star GameBaseball commissioner Bud Selig said the 2012 Major League All-Star Game will be played in Kansas City. Selig made the formal announcement Wednesday at Kauffman Stadium, following through on a promise he made four years ago. The game is a reward for Jackson County voters approving a sales tax increase in 2006 to fund more than $250 million in stadium renovations.

SOCCER

Cup favorite upsetThe World Cup needed a jolt. Switzerland provided it. Gelson Fernandes scored on a rare Swiss attack, giving his team a stunning 1-0 upset Wednesday against European champion and tournament favorite Spain. The loss ended Spain’s run of 12 consecutive wins and handed the Spanish just their second loss in 50 games .

More World Cup coverage, B4

NFL

Talk of a longer seasonNFL and union officials discussed adding two games to the regular season when they met Wednesday . Teams would still play a total of 20 games. The league would go from four in the preseason and 16 in the regular season to two and 18. The earliest a change could be made is 2012.

— Press wire services

THE GAMES

SPORTSTHE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS

SECTION

THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 2010

CLASSIFIED ADS, B7-B11

HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS B2-B3BASEBALL B5

STATE SPORTS, NBA B6

B

BY STEVE KAMINSKI

THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS

West Michigan Sports Commis-sion events manager Eric Engelbartsexplained that pulling off a sports festival the size of the Meijer State Games of Michigan on June 25-27 is a game all in itself.

“It’s like a pinball machine once it goes off,” Engelbarts said. “Everyone is moving around, bouncing around, we are communicating with the dif-ferent groups and making sure we are all on the same page.”

The sports commission’s staff con-sists of three full-time employees, so it was going to need some help host-ing an event that has a goal of bringing in approximately 3,500 amateur ath-letes from across the state competing in 15 sports .

The plan? Form a network of volun-teers from Grand Rapids to Detroit, up to Marquette, back down to the

Michigan/Indiana border and every-where in between.

Volunteer committees have been created for each sport, as well as an organizing committee that will run each sport once the big day arrives. Each sport has a tournament director, and in some cases like softball, there are multiple directors, and in other cases like hockey, it has a commis-sioner, too.

“There is no way we would be able to pull it off without the community support and the help of the key vol-unteers,” Engelbarts said. “I can’t put a number on the volunteers, but it’s in the hundreds. Most are statewide in nature and they are the nuts and bolts of this event. Each sport that we have, we have asked for a statewide committee so we have representation throughout the state for the sport.

“The biggest challenge, and prob-ably the most rewarding, is working with the full-time volunteers. They have lives and jobs of their own, so

SEE GAMES, B3

Where to watch

The Meijer State Games of Michigan will be played at various venues throughout Grand Rapids:

VENUE SPORT1. EAST KENTWOOD H.S. Track and field, Rugby2. MVP FIELDHOUSE Basketball3. FAIRLANES Bowling4. WEST MICHIGAN FENCING ACADEMY Fencing5. PATTERSON ICE CENTER Figure Skating6. KENTWOOD ICE ARENA Hockey7. GRIFF’S ICEHOUSE Hockey8. WALKER ICE AND FITNESS CENTER Hockey9. CANNONSBURG SKI LODGE Mountain biking10. MICHIGAN ATHLETIC CLUB Racquetball11. RIVERSIDE PARK Rowing12. CARPE DIEM VOLLEYBALL Indoor volleyball13. THE SCORE Beach volleyball14. STEIL BOYS & GIRLS CLUB Boxing15. CORNERSTONE UNIVERSITY Tae Kwon Do16. GR BMX BMX17. MACKAY JAYCEE PARK Youth softball18. HUFF PARK Youth softball19. HELDER PARK Youth softball20. NORTHVIEW HIGH SCHOOL Basketball21. BELKNAP PARK Adult softball22. VAN ANDEL ARENA Opening ceremonies

EAST LANSING — The day after. It produced the big sigh, the

reaffi rmation of Tom Izzo’s beloved status in Michigan State University sports, and a few other things:

Izzo’s fl irtation with the NBA’s �

Cleveland Cavaliers, which he broke off Tuesday night by announcing he would remain men’s basketball coach at MSU, is the kind of thing that can solidify or divide a team. But after only 10 news days, and a relatively quick decision, this one didn’t linger long enough to divide the Spartans, and it was clear, through the players’ reactions, that it very well might refocus them on an opportunity at a third consecutive Final Four and a third national championship for the program.To achieve any of that, the

Spartans certainly would like to have a focused and happy Chris Allen. But when Allen declined

to step to the podium with his teammates to thank Izzo for staying, it underscored the senior-to-be guard’s strange purgatory, after the coach hinted last month that one of his players

might transfer. Internet sites are rampant with unconfi rmed rumors about why Allen is persona non grata, but whatever the reason is, it clearly seems he is something of an outsider these days.

Kalin Lucas walked without aid of �a protective boot, 2 1/2 months after surgery to repair the ruptured

Achilles tendon he suffered during the NCAA tournament. “The foot feels good,” he said.Derrick Nix, after a weighty �freshman season, promised to drop plenty of pounds before his sophomore year. He was noticeably leaner.Izzo’s fl irtation with the Cavaliers �is the kind of thing that can solidify or divide a fan base, too. But this didn’t linger that long, and Izzo’s reputation as a green-bleeding Spartans, to what extent it was dented, will not suffer for it. He asked everybody to stay on board and stick beside him and his team. That won’t be an issue.

SEE MAYO, B6

Sports commission gets ball rolling for State Games of Michigan

Amateur sports festival boosted by hundreds

of volunteers

BY STEVE KAMINSKI


MARNE — Kyle Busch was out of clean clothes by the time he hopped on his plane Wednesday night in Grand Rapids and headed to California.

However, Busch did have a shiny new trophy to take with him, along with $20,000 after winning theRowdy’s Revenge 251 at Berlin Race-way in Marne.

Busch, who is second in theNASCAR Sprint Cup point standings, held off a pair of second-generation racing teenagers, Chase Elliott and Ross Kenseth, for his fi rst victory at the Berlin half-mile.

Busch took the lead for good on lap 150, then survived a caution-fi lled fi nish that saw the yellow wave four times during the fi nal 18 laps.

The race originally was scheduled

for Tuesday, but action was rained out. Busch returned for the CRASuper Series sanctioned race in his No. 51 template body Late Model.

“You guys are awesome, thanks so much for coming out,” Busch said after climbing out of his car in Victory Lane. “I appreciate the

SEE BERLIN, B3

Worth the waitKYLE BUSCH STAYS AN EXTRA NIGHT TO WIN AT BERLIN

Winner: Kyle Busch looks calm before the start of Wednesday’s race, which was postponed a day because of rain.

PRESS PHOTOS/JON M. BROUWER

Bumper to bumper: Kyle Busch, left, comes out of Turn 4 ahead of Chase Elliott in the Rowdy’s Revenge 251 on Wednesday at Berlin Raceway.

MOREA.J. Allmendinger wins 50-lap Modified �Series race at Berlin, then hitches ride

to California with Busch, B3

ON mlivehome: Mlive.com

PHOTOS:� View a gallery from Wednesday’s Rowdy’s Revenge 251 race

at Berlin.

CONNECTFor registration information on any of the �

sports, visit stategamesofmichigan.com.

DAVIDMAYO

SPORTS COLUMNIST

That sound? Spartans fans exhaling

Tom IzzoIzzo staying, with hopesof another Final Four run

UPDATE

Tigers 8, Nationals 3Next game: Detroit (Jeremy Bonderman 2-4, 4.21) vs. Washington (Luis Atilano 5-3, 4.34), 1:05 p.m. today at Comerica ParkTV, radio: FSD, WBBL-FM (107.3), WKZO-AM (590), WHTC-AM (1450)

BY STEVE KORNACKI

PRESS NEWS SERVICE

DETROIT — Detroit Tigers rook-ie slugger Brennan Boesch put on ahitting exhibition Wednesday night.

He did it against WashingtonNationals starter Livan Hernandez, a former World Series star who has been one of the National League’s best pitchers this season.

Boesch drove in four runs, including a three-run home run in the seventh inning, as the Tigers beat the Nationals 8-3.

It was the Tigers’ fi fth consecutive win, and improved their home inter-league record since 2006 to 34-6.

Justin Verlander struck out aseason-high 11 and didn’t allow a walk in eight innings to improve his record to 8-4 for 2010 and 11-1 in interleague play.

Boesch’s home run was crushed into the right-center fi eld bleachers and landed an estimated 422 feet away .

Boesch already has homered offCC Sabathia and one of the game’s best left-handed relievers, Matt Thornton. Tigers manager JimLeyland was asked what it says about Boesch that he rises to the occasion against premier pitchers.

“It means Boesch is a very dan-gerous hitter,” Leyland said. “He’s

SEE TIGERS, B5

Boesch bash lifts

TigersRookie slugger’s

three-run homer paces Verlander’s eighth win

MOREStrasburg just �

a spectator in Tigers’ series,

B5

AP PHOTO

There it goes: The Tigers’ Brennan Boesch connects on a three-run home run against the Nationals in Wednesday’s victory.

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE

COLLEGE FOOTBALL:�Michigan, Nebraska to rekindle rivalry when Cornhuskers joinBig Ten.

POKER:� Find out who made the World Series of Poker’s Tournament of Champions at “Dead Money.”

mlive.comYour source for news, blogs,

comments

HOLLAND — Unity Christian soccer coach

Randy Heethuis pointed at his team roster listed in the Division 3 semifi nal program, indicating the players who had switched positions this season.

It’s complicated. But it makes sense.

Those switches, schemes and adjustments — as well as a commitment to doing whatever it takes to make the team better — helped the Crusaders win their seventh consecutive state semifi nal Wednesday, this time beating Suttons Bay 6-0 at Hope College.

The top-ranked team in the state, Unity Christian (22-3-1) competes for its sixth consecutive state championship with a whole new set of players Saturday. The Crusaders take on Williamston, a 1-0 winner against Frankenmuth, at noon at Michigan State University.

“We are excited. One of our goals in the beginning of the year was to have the opportunity to play on June 19, and now we got it,” Heethuis said. “I cannot speak highly enough about these kids. We moved some people around this year, and they have come together.”

While it’s easy to talk about the Crusaders offense — and who wasn’t astonished by that fi rst goal which came less than 6 minutes into the game, a perfect cross from junior Paige Capel to senior Kelli Heethuis — it’s remiss not to discuss the defense.

Kelsey Grasman,

Mackenzie VanDyke and Darcy VanNoord, the big three on defense in front of sophomore goalie Holly VanNoord, are getting it done in their fi rst season back there together. The outside backs, Grasman and Darcy VanNoord, the lone three-year starting senior, played midfi eld until this season. VanDyke, a sophomore, also is playing her fi rst season on defense.

They make the stops. They fi re the ball upfi eld.

Then everyone else takes over. With speed and much substitution, the Crusaders punch in goals quickly and from everywhere.

Wednesday, Kelli Heethuis, one of the coach’s twin senior daughters, had a big night, scoring one goal and assisting on three others. Her sister, Jenna Heethuis, also had an assist on Emily Capisciolto’s goal.

Capisciolto, in turn, set up a score by AnaIsa VanHeukelum. Elle Burman and Shannon Balcer booted in goals, too, and Capel ended the scoring on a goal with 9:16 left in the game.

“We are all close, we love playing together,” Capel said. “This win means a lot because lots of people didn’t think we would make it this far. About halfway through the season, we started believing. We started to play together well.”

Suttons Bay coach Casey Wilcox knew what to expect from Unity Christian. Two years ago, the Crusaders also

beat the Norseman 8-0 in a mercy-shortened semifi nal.

“We were expecting a tough game and that is exactly what we got,” she said. “They are solid all the way through. They sub in and out, in and out, and their subs are just as good as their starters.”

While Unity Christian was clearly the better of the two teams Wednesday, coach Heethuis had nothing but praise for Suttons Bay (17-5-3).

“They played hard, they battled,” he said. “There was no quit in them.”

The same can be said of the Crusaders. Even without any four-year senior stars, with less than a handful of seniors, including one fi rst-year senior player in Jess Jelsema, and without much experience , they won’t quit now.

E-mail: [email protected]

BY STEVE UNGREY


This weekend’s high school softball state semifi nals won’t be the end of the line for Kyleigh Linebaugh or Sara Driesenga.

It will be the last time both pitchers have to adjust their throws in the circle, however.

This is the final week-end high school softball inMichigan will be played at the distance of 40 feet between the circle and home plate. Next year, the shift is made to 43 feet, the same distance travel ball and college teams use.

Since Linebaugh and Dri-esenga already play travel ball, they say they can make the transition smoothly.

“It’s a little bit different

because you have to push your legs more with the 43-feet dis-tance. I was hoping Michigan would switch this year so I’d be all set for travel season,” Driesenga said.

Linebaugh, a sophomore who is Belding’s top pitcher, said pitchers can make the adjust-ment work to their advantage.

“It’ll be different, but it will move the ball a little better and it may not give hitters more time to hit,” Linebaugh said. “They’re trying to protect the pitcher a little more (from line drives back to the circle). ”

IF YOU GO

FOCUS ON PREPSTHE GRAND RAPIDS PRESSB2 THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 2010

BY CRIS GREER


With his fi rst teaching job and a wedding on the horizon, all is well with newly hired Northview girls basketball coach Jonathan Goei.

Well, not exactly.Goei, the West Ottawa girls

coach the past two years, had a painful time leaving a program he loved.

“I went sleepless for about two weeks,” Goei said. “The kids there put in an absolute ton of work. They’re just p h e n o m e n a l k ids and i t was incredibly diffi cult.

“It was really hard to leave; I had a lot of great relation-ships there .Ultimately, with getting married in August, I have to look out for my family and do the best I can for us.”

That best he referred to included taking a teaching position at East OakviewElementary along with the girls varsity basketball coach-ing job.

“I finished my teachingdegree a year ago and couldn’t really go for another yearwithout a teaching job,” said Goei, who replaced MikeKapustka at Northview.

Goei was Kapustka ’sassistant boys varsity coach and also worked in the girls program, totaling seven years.

“Having worked with Mike for a lot of years, he and I car-ried much of the same philos-ophy, so I won’t have to start from scratch to build,” Goei said. “There’s been a ground-work that has been laid.

“We’re going to work to get better every single day. We have very little height in our

program, but didn’t have a ton at West Ottawa, either. We’re going to compete and fight, and hopefully give ourselves a chance at the end.”

Last season, Goei’s Panthers jumped out to an 8-1 start and wound up 17-7, saying de-fense was a big factor in their success.

“If you can defend anddefend well, you’ll give yourself a chance in every game,” said Goei, who will take that phi-losophy to the Wildcats. “We’re small, but we’re fi ghters.

“We’ll give ourselves a chance to compete by hope-fully playing good ‘D.’

Goei will have to win with-out Danielle Kapustka, who signed with Aquinas, and Katelyn Joyce, but retainsJessica Greiffendorf and Taylor Shomin.

“We were fortunate to get him; very happy,” said BobDailey, who recently retired after eight years as Northview’s athletic director and 42 ineducation. “He’s a great guy.”

MARISSA MURPHY, a recent Forest Hills Central graduate, has committed to swim for the University of Buffalo next season. A Division 2 state champion and record holder in the 200-yard individual medley and 100 butterfly, Murphy was all-state three consecutive years. She owns a top-five time in FHC girls swimming in almost every event. Last fall, Rangers coach Tim Jasperse called Murphy the best all-around swimmer he has ever coached. “She is very versatile and will make a big impact on our relays,” Buffalo coach Andy Bashor said in a news release.

TIM HOLLERN AND JOHN DOLCE, the former athletic directors at Forest Hills Eastern and Forest Hills Northern high schools, respectively, have accepted assistant principal positions at their respective schools. Former Forest Hills Central athletic director Clark Udell earlier accepted a principal position at one of the district’s elementary schools. The position of athletic supervisor has been posted at each of the three Forest Hills high schools.

E-mail: sports@grpresscom

PREP NOTES

Northview coacha familiar face

Goei to lead girls basketball programafter West Ottawa stint

SOFTBALL1. Hudsonville — The top-ranked team in Division 1 throughout the regular season, the Eagles will try to repeat as Division 1 state champions this weekend. 2. Wayland — Overcame injuries to clinch OK Gold, and came within two runs of moving on to the quarterfinals. 3. Jenison — The Wildcats had another superb season, but misfortune came in the districtdraw. 4. Rockford — Tricia Graham pitched well, but the bats went silent and the Rams lost in the regional semifinals. 5. Belding — Regardless of Friday’s outcome, this still is the most successful season in school history. 6. Rogers — One of coach Tom Hudson’s youngest teams still

reached the regional semifinals. 7. Lowell — Reached regional finals but couldn’t overcome a huge stumbling block in Hudsonville.8. Unity Christian — Coach Dave Aukeman’s squad had slow start but finished with a flourish and runner-up spot in the OK Green. 9. Northview — Perennial powerhouse again among area’s top teams.10. Covenant Christian — Respectable finish for Division 3 regional semifinalists.

PRESS RANKINGS


EXTRA:� More high school spring sports rankings at highschoolsports.

mlive.com/region/grandrapids

Softball semifinals

Both games Friday at Bailey Park in Battle Creek

Division 1Hudsonville (41-1) vs.Garden City, 11 a.m.Division 2Belding (36-2) vs.Mount Pleasant, 6 p.m.

Softball pitching rule

changing

Jonathan Goei

JaneKimSchool:FH NorthernSport:TennisGrade: Junior

ON THE COURTKim helped the Huskies win a fifth consecutive state title bymaking the No. 3 singles semifinals. She finished the season 26-3 and won four tournaments .

OFF THE COURTFavorite class: AP EnglishPost-school plans: TeachingHobby: ArtFavorite food: KoreanFavorite TV show:“That ’70s Show”Pet peeve: Non-stoptalkers

KyleighLinebaughSchool:BeldingSport:SoftballGrade: Soph.

ON THE DIAMONDLinebaugh, a pitcher, won her 35th consecutive game by throwing a four-hitter in Tuesday’s 3-2 Division 2 quarterfinal victory against Williamston.

OFF THE DIAMONDFavorite class: MathFavorite food: Macaroniand cheeseFavorite actress: Cameron DiazFavorite TV show: “Full House”Favorite sports team:Arizona WildcatsPet peeve: People ignoring you

DarcyVanNoordSchool:Unity Chr.Sport:SoccerGrade: Senior

ON THE FIELDVanNoord is a key part of a Unity Christian defense that blanked Paw Paw (3-0) and South Christian (2-0) in the regionals. She was namedall-conference this spring.

OFF THE FIELDFavorite class:Physical educationPost-school plans:Occupational therapyHobby: ShoppingFavorite food: Ice creamFavorite band: Boys Like GirlsFavorite actor: Will Smith

DavidVeenSchool:GR ChristianSport:GolfGrade: Senior

ON THE COURSEVeen shot a 73-75 to finish tied for fifth in the Division 2 state meet. The 73 was a personal-best round. Veen was voted the Eagles’ most valuable golfer this season.

OFF THE COURSEFavorite class: PsychologyHobby: ReadingFavorite TV show: “SportsCenter”Favorite movie:“The Dark Knight”Favorite music: Hip-hopPet peeve: Slow golfers

PRESS SALUTES

BY KELLY HILL


GRAND RAPIDS — Winninga state championship within the next fi ve years was a goal set at the beginning of the seasonby the Forest Hills Northern girls soccer team.

The Huskies have a chance to accomplish their goal with plenty of time to spare.

Forest Hills Northern will play Bloomfi eld Hills Marian on Saturday for the Division 2 state championship.

The Huskies advanced to the fi nals by beating DeWitt 1-0 in overtime Wednesday night in semifinal action at Grand Rapids Christian’s Eagles Stadium.

Sophomore Teigan Mit-cham beat Panthers goalkeeper Elise Grider, on an assist fromjunior Sophie Rammal, 3:28 into overtime.

“It was all my teammates,” Mitcham said. “Sophie gave me a great toss, but it was a great team effort.

“We defi nitely encouraged each other and we all really wanted it. DeWitt definitely played a good game, but we were prepared and I think we deserved it.”

All of Forest Hills North-ern’s coaches wore similar white shirts Wednesday, with apowder blue “20” emblazoned on the front, marking the 20th anniversary of FHN girls soccer.On the back of the shirt, black letters read “IOTN,” meaning, “It’s our time now.”

“We want to remember the

past, but live for the future,” FHN coach Jamie Bogart said. “We want to set the bar high for future teams.”

The 2010 Huskies (20-3-1) already have set the bar high-er than any of the school’sprevious teams with the program’s f irst regional championship .

“This is a great opportunity for our girls, for our school and for our program,” Bogart said. “This team had a lot of distractions early in the season, internal team distractions, and we said to the girls at the time that this can either make this a lousy season or it can take us to the next level.

“I think that if we had not had those distractions this year, we would not have had the kind of season we’ve had.”

Wednesday’s game was Northern’s second overtime game of the season. The Hus-kies also won the other, 1-0 against Forest Hills Eastern in the district fi nal.

“DeWitt was very aggres-sive,” Bogart said.

“I think we took them out of their game with our ball possession. I don’t know if we got their best game, but they got ours. Our defense played phenomenally.”

DeWitt (18-3-1) outshot the Huskies 8-6.

“We played awesome all year long but today we were not clicking the way we had been clicking,” Panthers coach Jamal Mubarakeh said. “We were just unlucky today. Everybody was tense today and we didn’t make the runs like we had been do-ing. We had a lot of turnovers today and a turnover killed us.”


JANEBOS

PREPS EDITOR


PHOTOS:� Check out a gallery from Wednesday’s game.

FHN works OT for trip to finals

Sophomore Mitcham scores game’s only goal in school’s first semifinal

DIVISION 2

Their time to shineUNITY CHRISTIAN DEFENSE DOES ITS JOB AS FIVE-TIME CHAMP ADVANCES

GIRLS SOCCER STATE SEMIFINALS

PRESS PHOTO/ JOEL HAWKSLEY

Making her move: Unity Christian’s Jenna Heethuis gets past Suttons Bay’s Autumn Reyhl in the Crusaders’ Division 3 state semifinal on Wednesday.

DIVISION 3

IF YOU GO

THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS LOCAL, HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 2010 B3


GRAND RAPIDS — The Grand Rapids Griffins are wasting no time kicking off their 15th season.

The Griffi ns will open the 2010-11 season Oct. 8 at Van Andel Arena. It is their ear-liest home opener since the ’05-06 season, which also was Oct. 8 and was the last time the Griffi ns opened the season at home.

The team also announced the dates of four other home games: Nov. 26, Dec. 10, Dec. 31 — the 14th annual New Year’s Eve game — Jan. 21 andJan. 22.

The Griff ins’ complete schedule will be announced later this summer.

For tickets, call 774-4585 or visit griffi nshockey.com.

BY DEAN HOLZWARTH


COMSTOCK PARK — West Michigan Whitecaps starter Giovanni Soto showed why he is worthy of being a Midwest League all-star.

The 19-year-old from Puerto Rico halted the Whitecaps’ lon-gest losing streak since 2007 with a dominating outing against fi rst-place Lake County on Wednesday night.

Soto tossed a complete-game, three-hit shutout to lift the Whitecaps past the Captains 1-0 in a speedy 1 hour, 57 minutes — a new franchise record.

The victory snapped West Michigan’s seven-game losing skid.

“I was feeling very good on the mound and it was good to pitch all nine innings because I’ve never done that before,” said Soto, who will represent the Whitecaps in next week’s Midwest League All-Star Game in Fort Wayne, Ind.

“I was making the hitters hit my pitches and I was keep-ing the ball down. I felt like

I could’ve thrown more than nine innings.”

Soto (5-4) struck out seven and allowed only two base runners to reach second base to pick up his fi rst win since May 25.

“He had all of his pitch-es tonight,” West Michigan catcher Billy Alvino said. “His cutter, fastball, change-up andcurveball. And once they started sitting on the cutter,

we started going change-up to keep them off balance.”

Milestone markThe Whitecaps welcomed

their 7 millionth fan to the ball-park Wednesday.

Ten-year-old Lauren Schaltz of Hudsonville was the lucky fan and was presented with a boatload of prizes, includ-ing two roundtrip tickets on AirTran Airways, a Nintendo

Wii, a flat-screen LCD TV, autographed baseballs and a package of Detroit Tigers and Whitecaps tickets

“I was like, ‘Wow, I guess I was pretty lucky today,’ ” said Schaltz, who recently completed fourth grade at Park Elementary School.

“I feel very grateful that peo-ple wanted to donate all this stuff and I didn’t even know about all of this before I came here tonight.”


UPDATE

Whitecaps 1, Captains 0Next game: West Michigan (Ramon Lebron 4-4, 7.08) vs. Lake County (Clayton Cook 2-4, 4.50), 7 tonight at Fifth Third Ballpark Radio: WBBL-FM (107.3), WHTC-AM (1450), WDEE-FM (97.3)

BY DEAN HOLZWARTH


COMSTOCK PARK — Ronnie Bourquin is continuing his road to redemption.

T h e D e t r o i t T i g e r s a n n o u n ce d We d n e s d ay that Bourquin, 25, has beenpromoted from Class-A West Michigan to Double-A Erie.

Last month, the former sec-ond-round pick of the Tigers was reinstated following a 50-game suspen-sion for testing posi t ive for the use of an amphetamine.

B o u r q u i n , who starred at Ohio State,

batted .237 in 11 games for the Whitecaps.

“He’s where he belongs right now anyway,” Whitecaps man-ager Joe DePastino said. “Hejust came back here to get some at-bats and see some pitching. You don’t want to throw him into Double-A right off the bat.

“It was good for him to get his at-bats, and he started swinging the bat pretty good.”

Bourquin batted .283 with 25 doubles and 58 RBIs in 81 games for West Michigan in 2009.

CATCHER ERIC ROOF was sent from West Michigan to Connecticut (New York-Penn League) after he hit .233 in 36 games.

FIRST BASEMAN TONY PLAGMAN joined the Whitecaps on Wednesday, marking the first 2010 Tigers draft pick to sign with the club. Plagman, a ninth-round pick out of Georgia Tech, led the Yellow Jackets with 21 home runs and 78 RBIs and batted .360 this spring.

LUIS ALBERTO SANZ, a 19-year-old-catcher from Lakeland, was promoted to the Whitecaps.

BY STEVE VEDDER


West Catholic’s Lance Buitendyk knows it might take a few innings and a couple at-bats, but sooner or later, the hits are going to come.

The Falcons, who play Mount Pleasant in a Division 2 semifi nal at 11 a.m. Friday in Battle Creek, are hitting .380 as a team. They had six-run in-nings in both of their regional games en route to scoring 19 total runs in the tournament.

In the i r quar terf ina l win against Owosso, they manufactured one of the most impressive offensive feats in the state tournament by scor-ing all seven of their runs in a single inning after the fi rst two batters were retired.

“It takes a couple of innings to get started, but once we get used to a pitcher, we sit back and hit him,” said Buitendyk, a junior shortstop who is bat-ting .446 with 16 doubles and six homers.

The No. 5 Falcons will need all the offense they can muster against a Mount Pleasant club that is making its third semifi -nal appearance in four years.

The Oilers outscored their three opponents by a com-bined 30-1, including blanking No. 4-ranked Pinconning 5-0 in the quarterfi nal.

Matchups, however, do not necessarily matter at this stage in the season, West Catholic coach Kevin Bouwhuis said.

“If we can play like we’ve been playing — with pitching, defense and timely hitting — you can’t worry about other teams,” he said.


Baseball state semifinals

Friday at Battle Creek

Division 2West Catholic (31-3) vs. Mount Pleasant (31-9), 11 a.m.

BY CRIS GREER


On the heels of EmilyBos’ induction into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame and nomination as the state’s female student-athlete of the year, the Holland swimmingstandout has added another prestigious award to her resume.

The National High School Coaches Association recently selected Bos, who has accept-ed a scholarship to swim forAuburn University, as one of the National High SchoolSenior Athletes of the Year for 2010.

This year’s recipients, selected from 20 boys and girls sports, are from 14 states, with three hailing from Michigan.

Bos, who won six individual state championships, owns four state records and is a two-time Division 2 Girls Swimmer of the Year.

“There’s room,” Bos said with a chuckle when asked about her trophy case. “I’ll put it on my shelf in my room.

“The commitment to this sport gets overwhelming at times, especially with school work and stuff, but I realize how much it’s paid off and how much commitment and hard work I’ve put in.”

CONTINUED FROM B1

support of the Berlin Raceway for the Rowdy’s Revenge 251. Keep telling your friends to keep coming out.”

Busch, 25, of Las Vegas, will compete in Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Infi neon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. He spent Wednesday hanging out in Grand Rapids with his fi ancee, Samantha Sarcinella, before heading to the track.

“Kyle definitely wanted to stay,” Sarcinella said. “The fans were all here, and he wanted to stay and put on a show for them. We called our friends in North Carolina and told them to go pack us up some stuff. He has been gone for a week-and-a-half, and I have been gone for two weeks, and we are offi cially out of clothes.

“This is his favorite thing to do. He loves racing Late Mod-els at the local short tracks. He loves this stuff. He would be doing it every week if he could.”

Elliott, 14, started eighth and dominated the fi rst half of the race in his fi rst Berlin appear-ance. Elliott, the son of 1988 Cup champion Bill Elliott, was out in front on lap 125 when the mandatory caution dropped.

That gave drivers an oppor-tunity to take their cars to the pits for their crews to work on while the 50-lap Modifi ed fea-ture was run.

Sprint Cup regular A.J.Allmendinger is glad he stuck around, too. Allmendinger won the Modifi ed main, pass-ing Mike Brooks with 20 laps to go and holding off BrianBergakker for the win.

Wednesday’s program drew about 5,000 spectators, and fans, including Tracey and Tom Ziolkowski of Huntley, Ill., were glad they returned. Their daughter, Lexie Ziolkowski, 14, roots for Busch, and they at-tended Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.

The Ziolkowskis had to check out of their hotel in Holland by noon, so they arrived at Berlin around 1 p.m. and waited for 6 hours for the race to start.

“My daughter is a huge, huge Kyle Busch fan, and that was the main draw, but we really love small tracks,” Tracey said. “We try to get to one each year, and we picked this one. We have never been here before, but it won’t be our last visit.”


BY STEVE UNGREY


MARNE — Jeff Striegle hoped to sneak up behind A.J. Allmendinger with a victory shower of Mountain Dew.

The Byron Center resident quickly found out Allmendingeris just as fast off the track as he is on it.

Allmendinger turned around while standing in Victory Lane and quickly overpowered Striegle, giving the car owner his own soda bath.

“I was going to pour it over his head, but he had the pleasure instead. I’ll take a Mountain Dew shower if it means bringing a driver like A.J. in to race. I’m just glad he had the opportunity to race here at Berlin.”

Striegle, track announcer Norm Jelsma and local car builder Mike Bursley teamed up to place a car in this year’s Berlin Modifi ed Series, which is new to the speedway.

“Two years ago, Jeff brought some Make-A-Wish kids to the track and the kids came through the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital,” Jelsma said.

“We decided if we could make a difference and be a diversion for the kids, then that’s what we wanted to do. Putting Mike at the helm of building this car was the best decision we ever made.”

Allmendinger, who fi nished 24th in last year’s NASCAR Sprint Cup standings, won the Modifi ed 50-lap race by .448 seconds over Brian Bergakker and 1.75 seconds over Mike Brooks.

Not a bad fi nish for some-one who was making his fi rst appearance at the track.

“It’s awesome,” Allmendingersaid when he addressed the crowd after his win. “I’m excited

to do so well and I’m grateful for the life that I live, and I’m just happy to be here.”

Jelsma and Striegle were happy to have Allmendinger in the car, especially since it resulted in a fi rst-place fi nish and more recognition for the children’s program.

“He’s a class guy and I’m just glad we were able to have him here the extra day to come back and race,” said Striegle, who

covers NASCAR for the Motor Racing Network.

“We felt very strongly about working with DeVos and it’s been a great program. He was able to work out a deal with Kyle Busch to fl y back on his plane. We thought someone else would have to go in the car, but we were happy to have A.J. be a part of this.”


CONTINUED FROM B1

it is a big commitment on their part.”

It was fi rst announced that the games were coming back in June 2009, and the initial step the commission took was iden-tifying and contacting commu-nity leaders in each sport.

East Kentwood track coach Dave Emeott, who guided the Falcons boys team to its second consecutive Division I state championship June 5, got a call.

Emeott is now organiz-ing the track portion of the games at East Kentwood since he was selected as the sport’s commissioner.

“The goal of the games really is to promote track and fi eld in the state of Michigan and in particular West Michigan,” Emeott said. “For the state games to be in West Michigan, it will help us bring track to life.

“I’m excited as a high school coach. But I’m also very excit-ed, not only for my team mem-bers, but as a parent of three little kids. This will help track grow and grow and grow.”

Engelbarts said track and fi eld is expected to be one of the more popular sports offered in the games, and Emeott added that it could draw up to 1,000

athletes, including his own state championship team.

The hockey tournament will consist of eight teams, featur-ing high school players selected from separate regions across the state, including a West Michigan-based squad.

Basketball, which offers play for male and female teams in youth, high school and adult levels, is going to be big, too, according to Engelbarts.

The commission partnered with Grand Valley State University, which hosts an annual junior varsity and var-sity boys summer basketball camp, the Summer Shootout, and that will be incorporated into the games.

“Their numbers are looking really good,” Engelbarts said.

“We were projecting 50 teams, and at last count, we had 43.”


Whitecaps snap streak on historic nightSOTO FIRES THREE-HITTER AS WEST MICHIGAN WELCOMES 7 MILLIONTH FAN

PHOTO COURTESY OF WHITECAPS

Milestone: Lauren Schaltz, 10, of Hudsonville, smiles after finding out she was the 7 millionth fan to attend a Whitecaps game at Fifth Third Ballpark.

Allmendinger celebrates win at Berlin

PRESS PHOTO/JON M. BROUWER

Workin’ hard: A.J. Allmendinger tinkers with his helmet before racing in — and winning — the Modified feature race Wednesday at Berlin Raceway in Marne.

NASCAR regular makes race after hitching ride on Kyle Busch’s plane

GAMESEK TRACK COACH PROMOTING SPORT

BERLINBUSCH WANTED TO STAY, RACE

Tigers promote

Bourquin

Ronnie Bourquin

Former second-round pick headed to Double-A Erie

Griffins announce

opener

WHITECAPS NOTES

West Catholic ready for

semifinalsFalcons’ baseball teamscores runs in bunches

Holland’s Bos receives

national recognition

PRESS PHOTO/JON M. BROUWER

Leading the charge: Kyle Busch, left, races ahead of Brian Campbell, of Wyoming, at Berlin Raceway on Wednesday.

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BASEBALL

MIDWEST LEAGUEFIRST HALF

EASTERN W L PCT GBGreat Lakes (Dodgers) 41 24 .631 —Lake County (Indians) 41 24 .631 —Lansing (Blue Jays) 36 29 .554 5Fort Wayne (Padres) 33 33 .500 8 1/2

S. Bend (Diamondbacks) 29 35 .453 11 1/2

Bowling Green (Rays) 28 37 .431 13Dayton (Reds) 28 37 .431 13West Michigan (Tigers) 24 41 .369 17WESTERN W L PCT GBCedar Rapids (Angels) 41 23 .641 —Quad Cities (Cardinals) 39 26 .600 2 1/2

Peoria (Cubs) 36 30 .545 6Clinton (Mariners) 35 30 .538 6 1/2

Beloit (Twins) 34 31 .523 7 1/2

Kane County (Athletics) 31 35 .470 11Wisconsin (Brewers) 24 41 .369 17 1/2

Burlington (Royals) 21 45 .318 21

WEDNESDAYWest Michigan 1, Lake County 0Beloit 11, Cedar Rapids 2Peoria 12, Burlington 7Wisconsin 7, Clinton 2Kane County 8, Quad Cities 2Lansing 8, Bowling Green 5Fort Wayne 5, Dayton 4Great Lakes 4, South Bend 3

TODAYLake County at West Michigan, 7 p.m.Beloit at Cedar Rapids, 7:35 p.m.Wisconsin at Clinton, 8 p.m.Kane County at Quad Cities, 8 p.m.Dayton at Fort Wayne, 7:05 p.m.South Bend at Great Lakes, 7:05 p.m.Bowling Green at Lansing, 7:05 p.m.

FRIDAYWest Michigan at Bowling Green, 8:05 p.m.Burlington at Cedar Rapids, DH, 6:30 p.m.Quad Cities at Peoria, 7:30 p.m.Lansing at Lake County, 7 p.m.Great Lakes at Dayton, 7 p.m.Clinton at Beloit, 8 p.m.Wisconsin at Kane County, 8 p.m.Fort Wayne at South Bend, 7:30 p.m.Burlington at Cedar Rapids, 9:05 p.m.

WHITECAPS 1, CAPTAINS 0LAKE CO. ab r h bi W. MICH. ab r h biCid cf 3 0 0 0 Ja.Johnson cf 4 0 1 1Greenwell lf 4 0 1 0 He.Perez ss 3 0 0 0Frawley ss 4 0 0 0 Gaynor 3b 3 0 0 0Chen dh 3 0 0 0 Lennerton dh 3 0 0 0Smith 2b 3 0 0 0 Av.Garcia rf 3 0 0 0R.Perez c 3 0 1 0 Plagman 1b 3 0 0 0Tice 3b 3 0 0 0 Rockett lf 3 1 1 0Smit rf 3 0 0 0 Alvino c 3 0 1 0Abraham 1b 2 0 1 0 Gulliver 2b 2 0 0 0Martinez pr 0 0 0 0Totals 28 0 3 0 Totals 27 1 3 1Lake County 000 000 000 0West Michigan 001 000 00x 1

DP —Lake County 1. LOB —Lake County 3, West Michigan 3. 3B —Rockett (4). CS —Greenwell (5). S —Cid.Lake County ip h r er bb soAdams (L,2-4) 5 3 1 1 1 7Sarianides 3 0 0 0 0 2West Michigan ip h r er bb soG.Soto (W,5-4) 9 3 0 0 1 7Umpires —Home, Lentz; Field, Gaddy. T —1:57. A —7,594.

SOCCER

2010 WORLD CUPFIRST ROUNDGROUP A

GP W D L GF GA PtsUruguay 2 1 1 0 3 0 4Mexico 1 0 1 0 1 1 1France 1 0 1 0 0 0 1South Africa 2 0 1 1 1 4 1

WEDNESDAYAt Pretoria, South Africa

Uruguay 3, South Africa 0

TODAYAt Polokwane, South Africa

Mexico vs. France, 2:30 p.m.

JUNE 22At Rustenburg, South Africa

Mexico vs. Uruguay, 10 a.m.At Bloemfontein, South Africa

France vs. South Africa, 10 a.m.

GROUP B GP W D L GF GA PtsSouth Korea 1 1 0 0 2 0 3Argentina 1 1 0 0 1 0 3Nigeria 1 0 0 1 0 1 0Greece 1 0 0 1 0 2 0

TODAYAt Bloemfontein, South Africa

Nigeria vs. Greece, 10 a.m.At Johannesburg

Argentina vs. South Korea, 7:30 a.m.

JUNE 22At Durban, South Africa

Nigeria vs. South Korea, 2:30 p.m.At Polokwane, South Africa

Greece vs. Argentina, 2:30 p.m.

GROUP C GP W D L GF GA PtsSlovenia 1 1 0 0 1 0 3England 1 0 1 0 1 1 1United States 1 0 1 0 1 1 1Algeria 1 0 0 1 0 1 0

FRIDAYAt Johannesburg

United States vs. Slovenia, 10 a.m.At Cape Town, South Africa

England vs. Algeria, 2:30 p.m.

JUNE 23At Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Slovenia vs. England, 10 a.m.At Pretoria, South Africa

United States vs. Algeria, 10 a.m.GROUP D

GP W D L GF GA PtsGermany 1 1 0 0 4 0 3Ghana 1 1 0 0 1 0 3Serbia 1 0 0 1 0 1 0Australia 1 0 0 1 0 4 0

FRIDAYAt Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Germany vs. Serbia, 7:30 a.m.

SATURDAYAt Rustenburg, South Africa

Australia vs. Ghana, 7:30 a.m.

JUNE 23At Johannesburg

Ghana vs. Germany, 2:30 p.m.At Nelspruit, South Africa

Australia vs. Serbia, 2:30 p.m.

GROUP E GP W D L GF GA PtsNetherlands 1 1 0 0 2 0 3Japan 1 1 0 0 1 0 3Cameroon 1 0 0 1 0 1 0Denmark 1 0 0 1 0 2 0

SATURDAYAt Durban, South Africa

Netherlands vs. Japan, 7:30 p.m.At Pretoria, South Africa

Denmark vs. Cameroon, 2:30 p.m.

JUNE 24At Rustenburg, South Africa

Denmark vs. Japan, 2:30 p.m.At Cape Town, South Africa

Cameroon vs. Netherlands, 2:30 p.m.

GROUP F GP W D L GF GA PtsItaly 1 0 1 0 1 1 1New Zealand 1 0 1 0 1 1 1Paraguay 1 0 1 0 1 1 1Slovakia 1 0 1 0 1 1 1

SUNDAYAt Bloemfontein, South Africa

Paraguay vs. Slovakia, 7:30 a.m.At Nelspruit, South Africa

Italy vs. New Zealand, 10 a.m.

JUNE 24At Johannesburg

Slovakia vs. Italy, 10 a.m.At Polokwane, South Africa

Paraguay vs. New Zealand, 10 a.m.

GROUP G GP W D L GF GA PtsBrazil 1 1 0 0 2 1 3Ivory Coast 1 0 1 0 0 0 1Portugal 1 0 1 0 0 0 1North Korea 1 0 0 1 1 2 0

SUNDAYAt Johannesburg

Brazil vs. Ivory Coast, 2:30 p.m.

MONDAYAt Cape Town, South Africa

North Korea vs. Portugal, 7:30 a.m.

JUNE 25At Durban, South Africa

Portugal vs. Brazil, 10 a.m.At Nelspruit, South Africa

North Korea vs. Ivory Coast, 10 a.m.

GROUP H GP W D L GF GA PtsChile 1 1 0 0 1 0 3Switzerland 1 1 0 0 1 0 3Honduras 1 0 0 1 0 1 0Spain 1 0 0 1 0 1 0

WEDNESDAYAt Nelspruit, South Africa

Chile 1, Honduras 0At Durban, South Africa

Switzerland 1, Spain 0

MONDAYAt Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Switzerland vs. Chile, 10 a.m.At Johannesburg

Spain vs. Honduras, 2:30 p.m.

JUNE 25At Pretoria, South Africa

Chile vs. Spain, 2:30 p.m.At Bloemfontein, South Africa

Switzerland vs. Honduras, 2:30 p.m.

SECOND ROUNDJUNE 26

Game 49 at Port Elizabeth, South AfricaGroup A winner vs. Group B second place, 10 a.m.

Game 50 at Rustenburg, South AfricaGroup C winner vs. Group D second place, 2:30 p.m.

JUNE 27Game 51 at Bloemfontein, South Africa

Group D winner vs. Group C second place, 10 a.m.Game 52 at Johannesburg

Group B winner vs. Group A second place, 2:30 p.m.

JUNE 28Game 53 at Durban, South Africa

Group E winner vs. Group F second place, 10 a.m.Game 54 at Johannesburg

Group G winner vs. Group H second place, 2:30 p.m.

JUNE 29Game 55 at Pretoria, South Africa

Group F winner vs. Group E second place, 10 a.m.Game 56 at Cape Town, South Africa

Group H winner vs. Group G second place, 2:30 p.m.

QUARTERFINALSJULY 2

Game 57 at Port Elizabeth, South AfricaGame 53 winner vs. Game 54 winner, 10 a.m.

Game 58 at JohannesburgGame 49 winner vs. Game 50 winner, 2:30 p.m.

JULY 3Game 59 at Cape Town, South AfricaGame 52 winner vs. Game 51 winner, 10 a.m.

Game 60 at JohannesburgGame 55 winner vs. Game 56 winner, 2:30 p.m.

SEMIFINALSJULY 6

At Cape Town, South AfricaGame 58 winner vs. Game 57 winner, 2:30 p.m.

JULY 7At Durban, South Africa

Game 59 winner vs. Game 60 winner, 2:30 p.m.

THIRD PLACEJULY 10

At Port Elizabeth, South AfricaSemifinal losers, 2:30 p.m.

CHAMPIONSHIPJULY 11

At JohannesburgSemifinal winners, 2:30 p.m.

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCEREASTERN CONFERENCE

W L T Pts GF GAColumbus 6 2 3 21 16 11New York 7 5 0 21 14 16Toronto FC 5 4 2 17 15 14Chicago 3 3 5 14 16 16Kansas City 3 5 3 12 11 13New England 3 7 2 11 13 20D.C. United 3 8 1 10 10 22Philadelphia 2 7 1 7 11 21

WESTERN CONFERENCE W L T Pts GF GALos Angeles 10 1 2 32 22 4Real Salt Lake 7 3 2 23 22 11Colorado 6 3 2 20 13 9San Jose 5 4 2 17 15 14Houston 5 7 1 16 18 19FC Dallas 3 2 6 15 13 11Seattle 4 6 3 15 14 17Chivas USA 3 8 1 10 13 18

Three points for win, one point for tie.

JUNE 25San Jose at Real Salt Lake, 9 p.m.

JUNE 26D.C. United at Columbus, 7:30 p.m.Los Angeles at Toronto FC, 7:30 p.m.Colorado at Houston, 8:30 p.m.New York at Kansas City, 8:30 p.m.FC Dallas at Chivas USA, 10:30 p.m.

JUNE 27Seattle FC at Philadelphia, 5 p.m.Chicago at New England, 7 p.m.

JULY 1Houston at Toronto FC, 7 p.m.

JULY 2New England at Real Salt Lake, 10 p.m.

JULY 3Chicago at Columbus, 8 p.m.Kansas City at FC Dallas, 8:30 p.m.D.C. United at San Jose, 10 p.m.Philadelphia at Chivas USA, 10:30 p.m.

JULY 4New York at Colorado, 9 p.m.Seattle FC at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.

WOMEN’S PROFESSIONAL SOCCER W L T Pts GF GAFC Gold Pride 5 2 1 16 11 7Philadelphia 4 2 2 14 10 7Washington 4 2 2 14 13 9Sky Blue FC 3 3 2 11 7 8Chicago 2 4 2 8 4 6Boston 1 2 4 7 5 7Atlanta 0 5 2 2 2 9

Three points for victory, one point for tie.

SATURDAYPhiladelphia at Sky Blue FC, 7 p.m.Chicago at Atlanta, 7 p.m.Boston at FC Gold Pride, 10 p.m.

BASKETBALL

WNBAEASTERN CONFERENCE

W L PCT GBAtlanta 9 3 .750 —Connecticut 6 3 .667 1 1/2

Indiana 6 4 .600 2Washington 6 4 .600 2New York 4 5 .444 3 1/2

Chicago 4 7 .364 4 1/2

WESTERN CONFERENCE W L PCT GBSeattle 9 1 .900 —Phoenix 5 5 .500 4San Antonio 3 6 .333 5 1/2

Tulsa 3 6 .333 5 1/2

Los Angeles 3 7 .300 6Minnesota 2 9 .182 7 1/2

WEDNESDAYNo games scheduled

TODAYSeattle at Indiana, 7 p.m.

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSN2010 NBA DRAFT ORDER

June 24 at New York FIRST ROUND

Lottery picksNo. Team Record (Lottery)1. Washington 26-56 1032. Philadelphia 27-55 533. New Jersey 12-70 2504. Minnesota 15-67 1995. Sacramento 25-57 1566. Golden State 26-56 1047. Detroit 27-55 538. LA Clippers 29-53 239. a-Utah 29-53 2210. Indiana 32-50 1111. New Orleans 37-45 812. Memphis 40-42 713. Toronto 40-42 614. Houston 42-40 5

Non-lottery picksNo. Team Record15. b-Chicago 41-4116. c-Charlotte 44-3817. d-Milwaukee 46-3618. Miami 47-3519. Boston 50-3220. San Antonio 50-3221. Oklahoma City 50-3222. Portland 50-3223. e-Utah 53-2924. Atlanta 53-2925. f-Denver 53-2926. g-Phoenix 54-2827. h-Dallas 55-2728. i-LA Lakers 57-2529. Orlando 59-2330. Cleveland 61-21

a-from New York via Phoenix; b-to Milwaukee; c-to Minn. via Denver; d-to Chicago; e-to Minnesota via Phila.; f-to Memphis; g-to Oklahoma City; h-to New Jersey; i-to Memphis; j-to Washington

SECOND ROUND 31. New Jersey32. Minnesota (To Oklahoma City)33. Sacramento34. Golden State35. Washington36. Detroit37. Philadelphia (To Milwaukee)38. New York39. LA Clippers (To New York via Denver)40. Indiana41. New Orleans (To Miami)42. Toronto (To Miami)42. Memphis (To LA Lakers)44. Chicago (To Portland)45. Houston (To Minnesota)46. Charlotte (To Phoenix)47. Milwaukee48. Miami49. San Antonio50. Oklahoma City (To Dallas)51. Portland (To Oklahoma City via Dallas and Minnesota)52. Boston53. Atlanta54. Denver (To L.A. Clippers)55. Utah56. Phoenix (To Minnesota)57. Dallas (pick may be conveyed to Indiana)58. L.A. Lakers59. Orlando60. Cleveland (To Phoenix)

AUTO RACING

BERLIN RACEWAYWEDNESDAY NIGHT RESULTS

ROWDY’S REVENGE (251 LAPS)1. Kyle Busch, 2. Chase Elliott, 3. Ross Kenseth,

4. Boris Jurkovic, 5. Chris Anthony, 6. Johnny VanDoorn, 7. Ryan Blaney, 8. Robbie Pyle, 9. Joey Miller, 10. Ross Meeuwsen, 11. Alec Carll, 12. Chris Koslek, 13. Jordan Dahlke, 14. Seth Moody, 15. Caleb Bisacky, 16. Brandon Watson, 17. Nick Bonstell, 18. Terry Van Haitsma, 19. Jay Niewiek, 20. Tim Curry, 21. Phil Bozell, 22. Andy Ponstein, 23. Brian Campbell, 24. David Stremme, 25. Mike Bursley, 26. Becca Kasten, 27. Keith Herp, 28. Terry Senneker Jr., 29. Scott Hantz, 30. Justin Ryan.

MODIFIEDS (50 LAPS)1. A.J. Allmendinger, 2. Brian Bergakker, 3. Mike

Brooks, 4. Travis Eddy, 5. Chris Stearns, 6. Ben Kleis, 7. Matt Bainbridge, 8. Bobby Murphy, 9. Billy Eppink, 10. David Carter, 11. Kyle Jones, 12. Nyle Wieler, 13. Dan Logan, 14. Billy Shotko

GOLF

MICHIGAN OPENAt Orchard Lake CC, Orchard Lake.

Purse: $70,000. Yardage: 6,863; Par: 71Third round—Wednesday

(a-amateur)Andy Matthews, Ada 64-66-69—199Eric Wohlfield, Brighton 69-66-65—200Ryan Brehm, Mount Pleasant 65-66-70—201Korey Mahoney, Thompsonville 70-64-70—204Andrew Ruthkoski, Muskegon 68-65-71—201Eric Dovre, Detroit GC 67-70-68—205Scott Hebert, Grand Traverse 70-68-67—205Gary Smithson, Thousand Oaks 67-70-68—205a-Jerred Barley, Tipton 68-71-68—207a-Nicholas Carbary, Kalamazoo 70-69-68—207Erich Kuhlman, The Fortress 69-69-69—207Brian Ottenweller, Grand Rapids 66-70-72—208Nick Pumford, St. Charles 69-66-74—208Randy Hutchison, Traverse City 66-68-75—209a-Joe Juszczyk, Dearborn Heights 66-70-73—209Jonathon Micoff, Indian River 71-68-70—209Matt Pesta, Commerce Township 65-70-70—209Jeffrey Cuzzort, Grosse Ile 68-73-69—210a-Erik Schleicher, Grosse Pte Shr 64-70-75—210Brian Cairns, Fox Hills 69-72-70—211Steven Cuzzort, Grosse Ile 67-72-72—211Scott Hayes, Ann Arbor 70-69-72—211Timothy Matthews, Scotts 69-70-72—211Michael Pedrys, Canton 72-66-73—211John Pershern, Oakland U. 69-70-72—211a-Alexander Sitompul, Ann Arbor 71-69-71—211Brad Ward, East Lansing 66-71-74—211Jordan Young, Fox Hills 69-72-70—211a-Trevor Grigg, Novi 71-69-72—212a-Matthew Thompson, Battle Crk 71-71-70—212Bill Zylstra, Plymouth 70-71-71—212Tyler Hering, Muskegon 73-68-72—213Lee Houtteman, Grand Traverse 72-71-70—213a-Chad Johnson, Plymouth 70-71-72—213Ryan Lenahan, Grosse Pte Shr 67-73-73—213Joe Pollack, Boulder Creek GC 68-73-72—213Greg Stefan, Farmington Hills 73-70-70—213a-Jeff Champine, Rochester Hills 71-72-71—214Larry Hess, Brighton 69-73-72—214Jay Jurecic, Caspian 69-71-74—214Dave Kendall, Kendall Acad 71-71-72—214a-Bill Rankin, Ann Arbor 67-73-74—214Denny Sikkila, Grand Blanc 71-73-70—214a-Chaz Meek, Burton 70-74-71—215Brandon Cigna, Novi 70-74-71—215a-Chaz Meek, Burton 70-74-71—215Brandon Cigna, Novi 70-74-71—215a-Billy McKay, Ann Arbor 74-70-71—215John Seltzer, The Polo Fields 68-74-73—215Jeff Coble, Twin Lakes 70-73-72—215a-Ben Peacock, Ada 72-72-71—215Ian Ziska, Manistee Natl 68-72-75—215Kyle Martin, Forest Lake 70-70-75—215Barry Redmond, Boyne USA 70-72-74—216Jeff Gniewek, Knollwood 73-71-72—216a-Michael Ignasiak, Saline 69-74-73—216Joseph Beyer, Freeland 71-69-76—216a-Philip Snow, Northville 73-68-75—216Albert Kuhn, The Fountains 73-71-73—217a-Steven Fedewa, Howell 73-68-76—217Jared Jawor, Hampton 73-70-74—217a-Blake English, Charlotte 68-73-76—217Frank McAuliffe, Ann Arbor CC 73-70-74—217Clark Klaasen, Grand Rapids 71-69-77—217a-Casey Olsen, Okemos 71-73-73—217Aaron Bush, Forest Lake 74-69-74—217Dennis Burns, Caledonia 75-68-75—218Matthew Zavadil, Dick’s Sprtg Gds 75-69-74—218a-Henry Do, Ypsilanti 72-72-74—218Sean Winters, Bloomfield Hills CC 74-68-76—218David Tokarsky, Saginaw CC 73-70-75—218Randy Erskine, Great Oaks CC 73-70-75—218Luke LaFave, Royal Oak 71-73-75—219David VanLoozen, Edgewood CC 70-74-76—220Brent Goulding, Prestwick Village 71-73-78—222a-Jordan Phillips, Swartz Creek 69-75-79—223

COLLEGE BASEBALL

NCAA COLLEGE WORLD SERIESAt Rosenblatt Stadium, Omaha, Neb.Double Elimination (x-if necessary)

SaturdayGame 1—TCU (51-12) vs. Florida St. (47-18),

2 p.m.Game 2—Florida (47-15) vs. UCLA (48-14),

7 p.m.Sunday

Game 3—Oklahoma (48-16) vs. South Carolina (48-15), 2 p.m.

Game 4—Arizona St. (52-8) vs. Clemson (43-23), 7 p.m.

MondayGame 5—Gm 1 loser vs. Gm 2 loser, 4:30 p.m.Game 6—Gm 1 winner vs. Gm 2 winner, 9 p.m.

June 22Game 7—Gm 3 loser vs. Gm 4 loser, 4:30 p.m.Game 8—Gm 3 winner vs. Gm 4 winner, 9 p.m.

June 23Game 9—Gm 5 winner vs. Gm 6 loser, 7 p.m.

June 24Game 10—Gm 7 winner vs. Gm 8 loser, 7 p.m.

June 25Game 11—Gm 6 winner vs. Gm 9 winner, 4:30 p.m.Game 12—Gm 8 winner vs. Gm 10 winner, 9 p.m.

June 26x-Game 13—Gm 6 winner vs. Gm 9 winner, 2 p.m.x-Game 14—Gm 8 winner vs. Gm 10 winner, 7 p.m.

HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL

STATE TOURNAMENTSEMIFINALS

Friday at Bailey ParkDIVISION 1

Macomb L’Anse Creuse North vs. Ann Arbor Pioneer at Nichols Field, 4 p.m.

Saginaw Heritage vs. Saline at C.O. Brown Stadium, 5 p.m.

DIVISION 2West Catholic vs. Mt Pleasant at C.O. Brown

Stadium, 11 a.m.Stevensville Lakeshore vs. Dearborn Divine Child

at Nichols Field, 10 a.m.

DIVISION 3Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard vs. Madison Heights

Bishop Foley at Morrison Field, NoonShepherd vs. Bath at Nichols Field, 1 p.m.

DIVISION 4 Portland St Patrick vs. St. Joseph Lake Michigan

Catholic at Morrison Field, 3 p.m.Frankfort vs. Beal City at C.O. Brown Stadium,

2 p.m.

FINALSSemifinal winners Saturday at Bailey ParkDivision 1—6:30 p.m.; Division 2—9:30 a.m.;

Division 3—12:30 p.m.; Division 4—3:30 p.m.

HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL

STATE TOURNAMENTSEMIFINALS

Friday at Bailey Park (Flannery Complex)DIVISION 1

Troy vs. White Lake Lakeland at Diamond 1, 10:30 a.m.

Hudsonville vs. Garden City at Diamond 3, 11 a.m.

DIVISION 2Belding vs. Mount Pleasant at Diamond 1,

6 p.m. Stevensville Lakeshore vs. Armada at Diamond

3, 6:30 p.m.

DIVISION 3Clinton vs. Allen Park Cabrini at Diamond 1,

3:30 p.m. Gladstone vs. Olivet at Diamond 3, 4 p.m.

DIVISION 4 Dansville vs. Petersburg-Summerfield at

Diamond 1, 1 p.m. Onaway vs. Unionville-Sebewaing at Diamond

3, 1:30 p.m.

FINALSSemifinal winners Saturday at Bailey ParkDivision 1—10 a.m.Division 2—5:30 p.m.Division 3—3 p.m.Division 4—12:30 p.m.

HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER

GIRLS SEMIFINALSWednesday

DIVISION 1At Holt

Plymouth 2, Portage Central 1 (SO)At Utica Stevenson

Novi 1, Rochester Adams 0

DIVISION 2At GR Christian

Forest Hills Northern 1, DeWitt 0 (OT)At Bloomfield Hills Andover

Bloomfield Hills Marian 2, Livonia Ladywood 0

DIVISION 3At Hope College

Unity Christian 6, Suttons Bay 0At Williamston

Williamston 1, Frankenmuth 0

DIVISION 4At Holton

Kalamazoo Hackett 1, Maple City Glen Lake 0 (OT)At Troy Athens

Waterford Our Lady 2, Madison Hts Bishop Foley 0

FINALSSaturday

DIVISION 1At Michigan State

Plymouth vs. Novi, 3 p.m.

DIVISION 2At Williamston

Forest Hills Northern vs. Bloomfield Hills Marian, 3 p.m.

DIVISION 3At Michigan State

Unity Christian vs. Williamston, Noon

DIVISION 4At Williamston

Kalamazoo Hackett vs. Waterford Our Lady, Noon

UNITY CHRISTIAN 6, SUTTONS BAY 0Unity Christian 3 3 6Suttons Bay 0 0 0

1st HALF—1, Unity Chr., Kelli Heethuis (Paige Capel). 2, Unity Chr., Elle Burman (K. Heethuis). 3, Unity Chr., Shannon Balcer (K. Heethuis).

2nd HALF—4, Unity Chr., Emily Capisciolto (Jenna Heethuis). 5, Unity Chr., AnaIsa VanHuekelum (Capisciolto). 6, Unity Chr., Capel (K. Heethuis).

SHOTS AT GOAL—Unity Christian 24, Suttons Bay 2.

GOALKEEPERS—Unity Christian, Holly VanNoord (2 saves). Suttons Bay, Brittany Mikowski (10 saves).

FOREST HILLS NORTHERN 1, DE WITT 0 (OT)Forest Hills Northern 0 0 1 0DeWitt 0 0 0 0

1st HALF—none.2nd HALF—none.OVERTIME—1, Forest Hills Northern, Teigan

Mitcham (Sophie Rammal).SHOTS ON GOAL—DeWitt 8, Forest Hills

Northern 6.GOALIES—DeWitt, Elise Grider (5 saves). Forest

Hills Northern, Kristiana Griffith (8 saves).

AREA BASEBALL

SUPER LEAGUE W L PCT GBAngels 3 1 .750 —Aquinas 2 2 .500 1Davenport 2 2 .500 1Hope 1 3 .500 2

Game times 6:15 p.m. Fields: Sullivan (S), Kimble (K). Games against Kentwood teams do not count in standings.

WEDNESDAYAquinas 11, Berkenpas Constr 1 (5 inn.)

TODAYAngels at Davenport (S)Hope at Aquinas (K)

JUNE 22Angels at Hope (S)Davenport at Aquinas (K)

AQUINAS 11, BERKENPAS CONSTR 1Berkenpas 001 00 1 4 0Aquinas 140 51 11 11 0

Zane Breslin, John Berkenpas (4), Cody VanKoevering (5) and Todd Harvey; Tyler Cole, Jake Ritsema (5) and Kyle Krantz. W—Cole; BB-2, SO-5. L—Breslin; BB-5, SO-2. 2B—Aquinas, Michael Penny. 3B—Aquinas, Jake Roe. SB—Aquinas, Michael Penny, Roe 2, Jake VanderKolk.

KENTWOOD LEAGUE W L PCT GBBandits 3 0 1.000 —Cocktailz 2 0 1.000 1/2

Berkenpas 2 2 .500 1 1/2

Clawed Cats 2 2 .500 1 1/2

F2 Financial 2 2 .500 1 1/2

RIT Music 2 2 .500 1 1/2

Power Baseball 0 5 .000 4Game times 6:15 p.m. unless noted. Fields:

Gainey North (GN), Gainey South (GS), South Christian North (SCN), S. Christian South (SCS)

WEDNESDAYF2 Financial 10, Power Baseball 7

TODAYF2 Financial at Clawed Cats (SCS) Power Baseball at Cocktailz (SCN)

FRIDAYBandits 5, Clawed Cats 0Cocktailz 8, RIT Music 4

F2 FINANCIAL 10, POWER BASEBALL 7Power Baseball 150 100 0 7 8 1F2 Financial 500 212 x 10 6 2

W—R.Brace; BB-4, SO-4. L—Slagter; BB-7, SO-6. 2B—Power Baseball, Kevin Terbeek; F2 Financial, Ben Wolfe. SB—Power Baseball, Sean Stammis; F2 Financial, Josh May.

TRANSACTIONSBASEBALL

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALLMLB—Suspended San Diego C Yorvit Torrealba

three games and fined him an undisclosed amount for his inappropriate actions, including making contact with umpire Larry Vanover during a June 14 game against Toronto.

AMERICAN LEAGUEBOSTON RED SOX— Signed INF Kolbrin Vitek

and OF Bryce Brentz and assigned them to Lowell (NYP).

CHICAGO WHITE SOX—Agreed to terms with RHP Jacob Petricka, 3B Rangel Ravelo, 2B Drew Lee, RHP Ethan Icard, 1B Michael Schwartz, RHP Austin Evans, OF Jordan Keegan, SS Ethan Wilson, LHP Robert Young, LHP Jarrett Casey, RHP Jamaal Hollis, OF John Spatola and RHP Patrick Schatz and assigned them to Bristol (Appalachian). Agreed to terms with RHP Addison Reed, RHP Thomas Royse, C Michael Blanke, RHP Edward McCray, RHP Douglas Murray, C Jose Ramos, LHP Peter Gehle, OF Michael Earley and RHP Brett Bruening and assigned them to Great Falls (Pioneer).

CLEVELAND INDIANS—Signed OF Jordan Casas. Agreed to terms RHP Matt Speake, 1B Andrew Kinney and LHP J.D. Reichenbach.

DETROIT TIGERS—Agreed to terms with 1B Tony Plagman, LHP Kyle Ryan, OF Michael Polk, 3B Josh Ashenbrenner, CF Jeff Rowland, RHP Tyler Clark, LHP Shaun Teufel, RHP Jeff Ferrell, LHP Logan Hoch, RHP Matthew Little, RHP Brennan Smith, SS Ryan Soares, LF Bo McClendon, SS Pete Miller, 3B Matt Perry and C Tyson Kendrick. Signed RHP Patrick Lawson, LHP Lance Baxter and OF Ryan Enos.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS—Placed RHP Luke Hochevar on the 15-day DL, retroactive to June 12. Selected the contract of RHP Anthony Lerew from Omaha (PCL). Requested unconditional release waivers on LHP John Parrish.

LOS ANGELES ANGELS—Designated OF Michael Ryan for assignment.

TAMPA BAY RAYS—Activated SS Jason Bartlett from the 15-day DL. Optioned OF Justin Ruggiano to Durham (IL).

TORONTO BLUE JAYS—Signed RHP Asher Wojciechowski.

NATIONAL LEAGUEARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS—Selected RHP

Sam Demel from Reno (PCL). Optioned RHP Cesar Valdez to Reno. Signed RHP Gregory Robinson, C Kawika Emsley-Pai, INF Yazy Arbelo, INF Jimmy Comerota, INF Zachary Walters, INF Thomas Belza, OF Justin Hilt and OF Westley Moss and assigned them to Yakima (NWL). Signed RHP Derek Eitel, C Andrew Whittington, INF Eric Groff, OF Adam Eaton, OF Christopher Jarrett and OF Javan Williams and assigned them to Missoula (Pioneer). Signed OF Michael Hur.

ATLANTA BRAVES—Placed RHP Chris Resop on the 15-day DL. Called up RHP Jesse Chavez from Gwinnett (IL).

COLORADO ROCKIES—Placed RHP Matt Daley on the 15-day DL, retroactive to June 11. Purchased the contract of RHP Juan Rincon from Colorado Springs (PCL).

LOS ANGELES DODGERS—Placed RHP Chad Billingsley on the 15-day DL. Called up RHP Travis Schlichting from Albuquerque (PCL).

PITTSBURGH PIRATES—Recalled 3B Pedro Alvarez from Indianapolis (IL). Designated INF Aki Iwamura for assignment. Signed INF Kevin Mort, LHP Justin Ennis, RHP Kevin Decker, OF Justin Bencsko, C Matt Skirving, INF Chase Lyles and INF Kelson Brown.

SAN DIEGO PADRES—Agreed to terms with INF Jedd Gyorko, INF Chris Bisson, OF Houston Slemp, RHP Christopher Franklin, INF Wesley Cunningham, OF Daniel Meeley, INF Paul Bingham, INF Connor Powers, INF Tyler Stubblefield, C Rocky Gale, RHP Matthew Branham, RHP Daniel Ottone, RHP Xavier Esquivel, RHP Rob Gariano, LHP Noah Mull, RHP Adam Schrader, C Justin Echevarria, C Cole Tyrell, RHP Robert Sabo and OF Gunnar Terhune.

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS—Activated SS Edgar Renteria from the 15-day DL. Optioned INF Matt Downs to Fresno (PCL).

HOCKEYNATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

DETROIT RED WINGS—Signed general manager Ken Holland and assistant general manager Jim Nill to five-year contract extensions. Agreed to terms with F Ilari Filppula on a one-year contract. Agreed to terms with F Todd Bertuzzi on a two-year contract.

BOXINGFIGHT SCHEDULE

National TV in parenthesesFRIDAY

At Airway Heights, Wash. (ESPN2), Sherzod Husanov vs. Jhon Berrio, 10, junior middleweights; Maxim Vlasov vs. Kingsley Ikeke, 10, super middleweights.

SATURDAYAt Oracle Arena, Oakland, Calif. (SHO), Andre

Ward vs. Allan Green, 12, for Ward’s WBA Super World super middleweight title; at Queretaro, Mexico (FSN), Rodel Mayol vs. Omar Nino Romero, 12, for Mayol’s WBC junior flyweight title.

JUNE 26At San Antonio (PPV), Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs.

John Duddy, 10, middleweights; Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Adilton De Jesus, 10, lightweights; at TBA, Mexico, Eduardo Escobedo vs. Francisco Cordero, 12, for the interim WBA featherweight title.

NATIONAL SPORTS

Wednesday’s games

SWITZERLAND 1, SPAIN 0Recap: Gelson Fernandes shocked tournament favorite Spain, scoring in the second half for the Swiss. No team has won the World Cup with an opening loss.What’s next: Chile vs. Switzerland, 10 a.m. Monday; Spain vs. Honduras, 2:30 p.m. Monday

CHILE 1, HONDURAS 0Recap: Chile’s Jean Beausejour scored in the 34th minute, giving Chile its first World Cup victory since it hosted the 1962 tournament.

URUGUAY 3, SOUTH AFRICA 0Recap: Diego Forlan scored two goals for Uruguay, which jeopardized the host country’s chances at advancing (one loss, one tie).What’s next: France vs. South Africa, 10 a.m. Tuesday; Mexico vs. Uruguay, 10 a.m. Tuesday

Today’s scheduleArgentina vs. South Korea, 7:30 a.m.; Greece vs. Nigeria, 10 a.m.; France vs. Mexico, 2:30 p.m.

— The Associated Press

WORLD CUP

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — The last time Tom Watson was at a course where he felt this much at home, this comfortable, he almost won the British Open.

That was last year, above the water at Turnberry.This week, he’s overlooking the Pacifi c at Pebble

Beach for the U.S. Open. And if there’s one man who doesn’t need convincing that anything is possible at Pebble, Watson is the man.

If his plan goes to form, his return to the course where he chipped in on No. 17 to win in 1982 will not be for ceremonial golf. Nor will it be merely for a nos-talgic trip back to the spot where he hit one of the most

famous shots in the game’s history.“I am playing well,” Watson declared

Wednesday.Which should mean something, even

though Watson is 60 and isn’t “sup-posed” to be thinking about winning these things anymore.

Last year, he was one 8-foot putt away from capping what many would’ve called the most remarkable golf story

ever — a 59-year-old man winning the British against a bunch of players half his age.

“Would have been a helluva story,” Watson said, re-peating his line from last year, after he missed the putt, lost the playoff to Stewart Cink and broke the hearts of pretty much everyone outside the Cink family.

Thing is, the loss didn’t stop Watson from playing well. He claims to be as comfortable on the golf course as he has been in decades, still hitting the ball long and straight and fi nding answers, most of the time, for a putter that used to confound him. He was tied for second after the opening round of the Masters earlier this year, and thanks to a special exemption granted to him by the USGA, he will become the only person to play in all fi ve U.S. Opens at Pebble Beach when he tees it up today.

Watson is redefi ning what a player can do at 60, even on the toughest courses against the toughest competition.

“I still feel as if I can play the golf course,” he said.


IRENE, South Africa — Tim Howard thought about Andrej Komac’s prediction of victory for Slovenia and chuckled.

“I think talk is cheap,” the American goalkeeper said Wednesday. “He’s got to stand toe to toe. And they’ve got to stand toe to toe with us for 90 minutes. And if he’s still standing, then I’ll take my hat off to him. But a

lot of boxers talk, too, and they’re look-ing up at the lights. And the next thing they know, they’re trying to fi gure out how they got there.”

All the focus might have been on last Saturday’s World Cup opener against England, but Friday’s game against Slovenia will be more important in de-termining whether the United States reaches the second round for the fi rst time since 2002.

Slovenia leads Group C with three points following a 1-0 win over Algeria, and the U.S. and England are tied for second with one point apiece after drawing 1-1. A win would go a long way toward putting the Americans in the knockout phase, and a defeat would pretty much eliminate the U.S.

Defender Oguchi Onyewu was amused by the bold assertion of Komac, a Slovenian midfi elder.

“It’s defi nitely a premature comment to make,” he said. “I don’t think a U.S. player would make a com-ment like that.”

Slovenia has a population of just over 2 million and is the third-smallest nation ever to play at the World Cup, larger than only Trinidad and Tobago, and Northern Ireland. According to Howard, Komac’s statement was understandable, given how far Slovenia has come.

“That means nothing to us,” he said. “We know that they’re probably feeling confi dent after getting the three points, and rightfully so.”

Howard was injured in the fi rst half of Saturday’s game when Emile Heskey’s boot struck him in the ribs below the breastbone, near the arm. Howard was down in pain for several minutes before resuming. He needed an injection of painkiller at halftime, and fi nished the game. He will play Friday.

Slovenia expects to beat U.S.

Water won’t distract Watson

ON THE AIRU.S. Open: �

1 and 5 p.m. today

on ESPN , 3 p.m. on NBC

Tim Howard

FROM ASSOCIATED PRESSAND STAFF REPORTSALL TIMES EASTERN

SCOREBOARD

TV TODAYBASEBALL 1 p.m. — Washington Nationals at Detroit Tigers. FSD1 p.m. — Colorado Rockies at Minnesota Twins. MLB Network7 p.m. — Philadelphia Phillies at New York Yankees. MLB Network7 p.m. — Chicago White Sox at Pittsburgh Pirates. WGN

GOLF1 p.m. — U.S. Open Championship. ESPN3 p.m. — U.S. Open Championship. NBC5 p.m. — U.S. Open Championship. ESPN

NBA FINALS 9 p.m. — Game 7: Boston Celtics at Los Angeles Lakers. ABCSOCCER 7 a.m. — World Cup: Argentina vs. Korea Republic. ESPN, Univision9:30 a.m. — World Cup: Greece vs. Nigeria. ESPN, Univision2 p.m. — World Cup: France vs. Mexico. ESPN2, Univision

TV FRIDAYAUTO RACING 3 p.m. — NASCAR Sprint Cup: Toyota/Save Mart 350, practice. Speed6:30 p.m. — NASCAR Sprint Cup: Toyota/Save Mart 350, qualifying. Speed

BASEBALL 7 p.m. — Arizona Diamondbacks at Detroit Tigers. FSD7 p.m. — Chicago White Sox at Washington Nationals. MLB NetworkBOXING10 p.m. — Friday Night Fights: Sherzod Husanov vs. Jhon Berrio. ESPN2GOLF1 p.m. — U.S. Open Championship. ESPN3 p.m. — U.S. Open Championship. NBC3 p.m. — ShopRite LPGA Classic. Golf Channel5 p.m. — U.S. Open Championship. ESPNSOCCER 7 a.m. — World Cup: Germany vs. Serbia. ESPN, Univision9:30 a.m. — World Cup: Slovenia vs. United States. ESPN, Univision2 p.m. — World Cup: Algeria vs. England. ESPN2, Univision

RADIO TODAYBASEBALL12:45 p.m. — Washington Nationals at Detroit Tigers. WBBL-FM (107.3), WHTC-AM (1450), WKZO-AM (590)6:50 p.m. — Lake County Captains at West Michigan Whitecaps. WBBL-FM (107.3), WHTC-AM (1450), WKLQ-AM (1490), WDEE-FM (97.3)

ON AIR

THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS BASEBALL THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 2010 B5

AMERICAN LEAGUEEAST W L PCT GB WCGB L10 STR HOME AWAYNew York 41 24 .631 — — 7-3 L-1 23-8 18-16Tampa Bay 41 24 .631 — — 5-5 L-1 18-15 23-9Boston 39 28 .582 3 3 6-4 W-2 22-15 17-13Toronto 36 31 .537 6 6 3-7 W-1 17-14 19-17Baltimore 18 48 .273 23 1/2 23 1/2 3-7 L-1 11-21 7-27

CENTRAL W L PCT GB WCGB L10 STR HOME AWAYMinnesota 38 27 .585 — — 6-4 W-2 23-12 15-15Detroit 35 29 .547 2 1/2 5 1/2 7-3 W-5 22-10 13-19Chi White Sox 30 34 .469 7 1/2 10 1/2 7-3 W-2 15-18 15-16Kansas City 28 38 .424 10 1/2 13 1/2 5-5 L-1 13-19 15-19Cleveland 25 39 .391 12 1/2 15 1/2 4-6 L-3 12-19 13-20

WEST W L PCT GB WCGB L10 STR HOME AWAYTexas 37 28 .569 — — 7-3 W-4 23-11 14-17Los Angeles 37 32 .536 2 6 6-4 W-1 17-15 20-17Oakland 33 34 .493 5 9 4-6 L-1 21-13 12-21Seattle 25 41 .379 12 1/2 16 1/2 3-7 W-1 15-17 10-24

WEDNESDAY

NATIONAL LEAGUEEAST W L PCT GB WCGB L10 STR HOME AWAYAtlanta 38 28 .576 — — 5-5 W-1 20-7 18-21New York 37 28 .569 1/2 1/2 9-1 W-6 24-10 13-18Philadelphia 33 30 .524 3 1/2 3 1/2 4-6 W-1 16-13 17-17Florida 31 34 .477 6 1/2 6 1/2 3-7 L-2 17-17 14-17Washington 31 35 .470 7 7 4-6 L-2 18-12 13-23

CENTRAL W L PCT GB WCGB L10 STR HOME AWAYCincinnati 36 30 .545 — 2 4-6 L-3 22-17 14-13St. Louis 36 30 .545 — 2 3-7 L-1 21-11 15-19Chicago Cubs 29 36 .446 6 1/2 8 1/2 4-6 W-1 16-16 13-20Milwaukee 28 38 .424 8 10 6-4 L-1 11-19 17-19Houston 26 40 .394 10 12 5-5 W-1 14-20 12-20Pittsburgh 23 42 .354 12 1/2 14 1/2 0-10 L-10 14-17 9-25

WEST W L PCT GB WCGB L10 STR HOME AWAYLos Angeles 38 27 .585 — — 6-4 W-2 23-13 15-14San Diego 38 28 .576 1/2 — 5-5 L-1 21-15 17-13San Francisco 37 28 .569 1 1/2 7-3 W-1 24-12 13-16Colorado 33 32 .508 5 4 1/2 5-5 L-2 19-12 14-20Arizona 26 40 .394 12 1/2 12 4-6 L-2 17-16 9-24

WEDNESDAY

TODAYWashington (Atilano 5-3) at Detroit (Bonderman 2-4), 1:05 Colorado (Jimenez 12-1) at Minnesota (Liriano 6-3), 1:10 Arizona (Haren 7-4) at Boston (Lackey 7-3), 6:10 N.Y. Mets (Dickey 4-0) at Cleveland (Westbrook 4-3), 7:05 Philadelphia (K.Kendrick 3-2) at N.Y. Yankees (Pettitte 8-1), 7:05 Houston (Myers 4-4) at Kansas City (Lerew 0-0), 8:10 All times p.m. Eastern

TODAYOakland (Braden 4-6) at Chicago Cubs (R.Wells 3-5), 2:20 Chicago White Sox (Peavy 5-5) at Pittsburgh (Ohlendorf 0-4), 7:05 L.A. Dodgers (Ely 3-3) at Cincinnati (Arroyo 5-3), 12:35 Tampa Bay (J.Shields 5-5) at Atlanta (T.Hudson 6-2), 7:10 Texas (Undecided) at Florida (Nolasco 5-5), 7:10

Detroit 8, Washington 3L.A. Angels 5, Milwaukee 1 N.Y. Mets 8, Cleveland 4 Philadelphia 6, N.Y. Yankees 3

Boston, 6, Arizona 2Minnesota 2, Colorado 1 Houston 4, Kansas City 2

Chicago Cubs 6, Oakland 2 Chicago White Sox 7, Pittsburgh 2San Francisco 6, Baltimore 3Toronto 7, San Diego 1

L.A. Dodgers 6, Cincinnati 2Atlanta 6, Tampa Bay 2Texas 6, Florida 3Seattle 2, St. Louis 1

INTERLEAGUETWINS 2, ROCKIES 1

Scott Baker pitched a two-hitter with 12 strikeouts in seven innings, while Danny Valencia and Nick Punto each had two hits and an RBI for Minnesota.

Colorado ab r h bi Minnesota ab r h biCGnzlz cf 4 0 1 0 Span cf 4 0 1 0Helton 1b 4 0 0 0 Tolbert 2b 3 0 1 0Tlwtzk ss 4 0 1 0 Mauer c 3 0 0 0Hawpe rf 4 0 0 0 Mornea 1b 4 0 1 0Mora 3b 4 0 0 0 Cuddyr rf 2 1 0 0Giambi dh 3 0 0 0 Kubel dh 3 1 1 0S.Smith lf 2 1 1 0 DlmYn lf 2 0 0 0Iannett c 2 0 0 0 Valenci 3b 3 0 2 1Barmes 2b 2 0 0 0 Punto ss 3 0 2 1Totals 29 1 3 0 Totals 27 2 8 2Colorado 000 000 010 1Minnesota 020 000 00x 2

DP —Colorado 3. LOB —Colorado 4, Minnesota 7. 2B —S.Smith (6), Valencia (1). S —Barmes, Tolbert.Colorado IP H R ER BB SOJ.Chacin L,3-6 5 7 2 2 3 1Belisle 2 1 0 0 0 0Beimel 1 0 0 0 1 0Minnesota IP H R ER BB SOS.Baker W,6-5 7 2 0 0 1 12Guerrier H,12 1/3 1 1 0 0 0Mijares H,5 2/3 0 0 0 0 1Rauch S,17-19 1 0 0 0 0 0HBP —by J.Chacin (Delm.Young), by Guerrier (Iannetta). PB —Mauer. T —2:47. A —40,814 .

MARINERS 2, CARDINALS 1Jason Vargas gave up fi ve hits in 7 2/3

innings for Seattle.

Seattle ab r h bi St. Louis ab r h biISuzuki rf 4 0 2 0 FLopez 2b 4 0 0 0Figgins 2b 3 0 1 1 Hollidy lf 4 0 0 0Bradly lf 3 1 1 0 Pujols 1b 4 1 1 0JoLopz 3b 3 0 1 0 Ludwck rf 3 0 1 1Tuiassp 3b 1 0 0 0 Freese 3b 4 0 3 0JoWilsn ss 3 0 0 0 Rasms cf 4 0 0 0Lngrhn 1b 3 0 0 1 YMolin c 3 0 0 0Alfonzo c 4 0 0 0 JGarci p 2 0 0 0Ardsm p 0 0 0 0 DReyes p 0 0 0 0MSndrs cf 4 1 1 0 Motte p 0 0 0 0JVargs p 3 0 0 0 Stavinh ph 1 0 1 0League p 0 0 0 0 Winn pr 0 0 0 0RJhnsn c 0 0 0 0 TMiller p 0 0 0 0 B.Ryan ss 2 0 0 0Totals 31 2 6 2 Totals 31 1 6 1Seattle 000 110 000 2St. Louis 000 100 000 1

DP —St. Louis 1. LOB —Seattle 6, St. Louis 5. 2B —I.Suzuki (16), Pujols (15), Ludwick (18), Stavinoha (2). SB —I.Suzuki (20). CS —I.Suzuki (7). S —B.Ryan. SF —Ludwick.Seattle IP H R ER BB SOJ.Vargas W,5-2 7 2/3 5 1 1 0 4League H,4 1/3 0 0 0 0 1Aardsma S,14-18 1 1 0 0 0 1

St. Louis IP H R ER BB SOJ.Garcia L,6-3 7 5 2 2 1 7D.Reyes 0 1 0 0 0 0Motte 1 0 0 0 2 2T.Miller 1 0 0 0 0 0D.Reyes pitched to 1 batter in the 8th. HBP —by J.Garcia (Jo.Wilson). WP —J.Vargas. PB —Y.Molina 2. T —2:47. A —40,020 (43,975).

BLUE JAYS 7, PADRES 1John Buck hit his third home run of the series, Vernon Wells also went deep and Fred Lewis had four hits for Toronto.

Toronto ab r h bi San Diego ab r h biFLewis rf 5 2 4 2 Eckstn 2b 5 0 1 0A.Hill 2b 5 0 1 1 Headly 3b 3 0 0 0Lind lf 4 0 0 1 AdGnzl 1b 4 0 1 0Camp p 0 0 0 0 Hairstn lf 4 1 1 0V.Wells cf 4 1 1 1 Hundly c 3 0 0 0AlGnzlz ss 4 0 1 0 Denorfi cf 4 0 1 0Overay 1b 2 2 2 0 Cnghm rf 4 0 1 0J.Buck c 4 2 2 2 Zawdzk ss 2 0 1 0Encrnc 3b 4 0 0 0 Mujica p 0 0 0 0RRomr p 2 0 0 0 H.Bell p 0 0 0 0Wise ph 1 0 0 0 Gallghr p 0 0 0 0SDowns p 0 0 0 0 Gwynn ph 1 0 1 0Reed lf 0 0 0 0 Correia p 2 0 0 0 R.Webb p 0 0 0 0 HrstnJr ss 2 0 0 0Totals 35 7 11 7 Totals 34 1 7 0Toronto 100 031 002 7San Diego 010 000 000 1

E —R.Romero (3). DP —San Diego 3. LOB —Toronto 4, San Diego 9. 2B —F.Lewis (21), Gwynn (6). 3B —F.Lewis (3). HR —V.Wells (16), J.Buck (12). SB —F.Lewis (5).Toronto IP H R ER BB SOR.Romero W,6-3 6 5 1 0 3 5S.Downs 1 1 0 0 0 1Camp 2 1 0 0 0 2San Diego IP H R ER BB SOCorreia L,5-5 5 9 5 5 1 3R.Webb 1 0 0 0 0 1Mujica 2 0 0 0 0 2H.Bell 1/3 2 2 2 2 0Gallagher 2/3 0 0 0 0 0Correia pitched to 3 batters in the 6th. WP —R.Romero. T —2:50. A —16,050 (42,691).

GIANTS 6, ORIOLES 3Tim Lincecum struck out 10 before getting hit in the back of the right shoulder by a line drive and leaving after six innings as San Francisco beat Baltimore. Giants manager Bruce Bochy said Lincecum was OK. Aubrey Huff and Juan Uribe hit back-to-back home runs for the Giants.

Baltimore ab r h bi San Francisco ab r h biCPttrsn lf 4 0 0 0 Torres lf-cf 3 1 0 0MTejad 3b 5 0 2 0 FSnchz 2b 4 0 2 0Markks rf 4 1 2 0 A.Huff 1b-lf 4 3 3 2

Scott 1b 3 1 1 0 Uribe ss 3 2 2 1AdJons cf 5 0 0 0 Sandovl 3b 3 0 1 1Lugo 2b 5 1 3 2 BMolin c 3 0 1 0Tatum c 2 0 1 0 SCasill p 0 0 0 0Wieters ph 1 0 0 0 Ishikaw 1b 1 0 1 1CIzturs ss 4 0 2 1 Schrhlt rf 3 0 0 1Guthrie p 3 0 0 0 Rownd cf 3 0 1 0Berken p 0 0 0 0 BrWlsn p 1 0 0 0SMoore ph 1 0 0 0 Linccm p 2 0 0 0Ohman p 0 0 0 0 Affeldt p 0 0 0 0Simon p 0 0 0 0 Whitsd c 1 0 0 0Totals 37 3 11 3 Totals 31 6 11 6Baltimore 000 110 100 3San Francisco 200 002 02x 6

DP —Baltimore 1. LOB —Baltimore 13, San Francisco 5. 2B —F.Sanchez (7), A.Huff (15), Uribe (11), B.Molina (6). HR —A.Huff (11), Uribe (11). SB —Scott (1). CS —Lugo (4). SF —Schierholtz.Baltimore IP H R ER BB SOGuthrie L,3-8 6 8 4 4 2 2Berken 1 0 0 0 0 0Ohman 0 1 1 1 0 0Simon 1 2 1 1 1 0San Francisco IP H R ER BB SOLincecum W,7-2 6 8 2 2 4 10Affeldt H,4 1/3 1 1 1 0 0S.Casilla H,5 1 1 0 0 2 3Br.Wilson S,18-20 1 2/3 1 0 0 0 2Ohman pitched to 1 batter in the 8th. WP —Lincecum 3. T —3:01. A —38,485 (41,915).

BRAVES 6, RAYS 2Tommy Hanson pitched seven scoreless innings and Troy Glaus drove in two runs for Atlanta. Hanson allowed three hits and struck out six.

Tampa Bay ab r h bi Atlanta ab r h biJaso c 3 0 1 0 Prado 2b 5 1 3 1Shppch ph-c 1 0 0 0 Heywrd rf 5 1 1 0Crwfrd lf 2 0 0 0 C.Jones 3b 3 0 1 0Longori 3b 4 1 0 0 Moylan p 0 0 0 0C.Pena 1b 4 0 1 0 Venters p 0 0 0 0Zobrist rf 4 1 1 1 McCnn c 4 1 1 1BUpton cf 3 0 0 0 Glaus 1b 4 0 1 2Choate p 0 0 0 0 Hinske lf 3 1 2 1Snnnstn p 0 0 0 0 GBlanc cf 1 1 1 0DNavrr ph 1 0 1 1 YEscor ss 4 1 2 0SRdrgz 2b-cf 4 0 0 0 MeCarr cf-lf 4 0 1 1Bartlett ss 2 0 0 0 Hanson p 2 0 0 0Brignc ph-ss 1 0 0 0 Hicks ph-3b 2 0 0 0WDavis p 1 0 0 0Blalock ph 1 0 1 0Wheelr p 0 0 0 0WAyar 2b 0 0 0 0Totals 31 2 5 2 Totals 37 6 13 6Tampa Bay 000 000 002 2Atlanta 003 001 02x 6

E —Crawford (2), C.Jones (6). LOB —Tampa Bay 5, Atlanta 8. 2B —Jaso (6), D.Navarro (5), Prado (19), McCann (10), Y.Escobar (10). HR —Hinske (5). SB —Crawford (23).Tampa Bay IP H R ER BB SOW.Davis L,5-7 5 7 3 3 0 5Wheeler 1 1/3 2 1 1 0 3Choate 2/3 0 0 0 1 1Sonnanstine 1 4 2 2 0 1Atlanta IP H R ER BB SOHanson W,7-3 7 3 0 0 1 6Moylan 2/3 0 0 0 1 2Venters 1 1/3 2 2 2 1 1T —2:47. A —26,807 (49,743).

RED SOX 6, DIAMONDBACKS 2Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis homered, and Jon Lester scattered four hits over seven innings to earn his eighth consecutive victory for Boston.

Arizona ab r h bi Boston ab r h biKJhnsn 2b 4 0 0 0 Scutaro ss 4 1 2 0TAreu ss 4 0 0 0 Pedroia 2b 4 2 2 2MRynl 3b 3 0 0 0 D.Ortiz dh 2 2 1 0AdLRc 1b 4 0 1 0 Youkils 1b 4 1 1 2CYoung cf 3 1 1 0 VMrtnz c 4 0 0 0Monter dh 3 0 1 0 J.Drew rf 4 0 1 1J.Upton rf 3 1 2 2 Beltre 3b 4 0 2 1Ryal lf 3 0 1 0 Camrn cf 4 0 0 0Snyder c 3 0 0 0 Nava lf 3 0 1 0S.Drew ph 1 0 0 0 DMcDn lf 0 0 0 0Totals 31 2 6 2 Totals 33 6 10 6Arizona 020 000 000 2Boston 202 000 20x 6

DP —Arizona 1, Boston 2. LOB —Arizona 8, Boston 5. 2B —C.Young (14), J.Drew (17). HR —J.Upton (11), Pedroia (9), Youkilis (13). SB —Pedroia (5).Arizona IP H R ER BB SOR.Lopez L,2-6 7 10 6 6 2 3Demel 1 0 0 0 0 1Boston IP H R ER BB SOLester W,8-2 7 4 2 2 3 7D.Bard 1 1 0 0 0 1R.Ramirez 2/3 1 0 0 1 0Papelbon S,15-16 1/3 0 0 0 0 0HBP —by Lester (M.Reynolds, Ryal). T —2:48. A —37,452 (37,402).

RANGERS 6, MARLINS 3Josh Hamilton capped a four-hit night with his 16th home run and Michael Young hit a two-run single to break Texas’ career hits record. Young tied Ivan Rodriguez’s club mark of 1,747 hits in the seventh, then drove a 2-2 fastball from Flor-ida reliever Jay Buente one inning later into center fi eld for the record and a three-run Texas lead.

Texas ab r h bi Florida ab r h biAndrus ss 5 0 0 0 Coghln lf 2 1 1 1MYong 3b 5 0 2 2 GSnchz 1b 4 0 2 0Kinsler 2b 4 2 1 0 HRmrz ss 4 0 0 1Hamltn lf 5 1 4 1 Cantu 3b 3 0 0 0DvMrp rf 5 0 1 1 Uggla 2b 4 0 0 0Smoak 1b 3 1 0 0 C.Ross cf 4 0 0 0Treanr c 5 1 1 0 Stanton rf 4 0 0 0Borbon cf 4 1 2 1 RPauln c 3 1 1 0TmHnt p 1 0 0 0 AnSnch p 0 1 0 0Harrisn p 1 0 0 0 Sosa p 0 0 0 0J.Arias ph 1 0 1 0 Tnkrsly p 0 0 0 0O’Day p 0 0 0 0 Bonifac ph 1 0 0 0Guerrr ph 0 0 0 0 Buente p 0 0 0 0Frncsc p 0 0 0 0 Pinto p 0 0 0 0N.Feliz p 0 0 0 0Totals 39 6 12 5 Totals 29 3 4 2Texas 111 000 021 6Florida 001 010 010 3

E —Ani.Sanchez (1), G.Sanchez (6). DP —Texas 1, Florida 1. LOB —Texas 10, Florida 4. 2B —M.Young (21), Coghlan (12). HR —Hamilton (16), Borbon (1). SB —Dav.Murphy (3). S —Ani.Sanchez.

Texas IP H R ER BB SOTom.Hunter 2 1/3 0 1 1 3 1Harrison 2 2/3 3 1 1 0 1O’Day W,3-2 H,10 2 0 0 0 0 1F.Francisco H,7 1 1 1 1 1 0N.Feliz S,17-19 1 0 0 0 0 3Florida IP H R ER BB SOAni.Sanchez L,6-4 6 8 3 1 1 6Sosa 1/3 1 0 0 0 0Tankersley 2/3 0 0 0 0 0Buente 1 2 2 2 2 2Pinto 1 1 1 1 1 0T —2:50. A —17,014 (38,560).

PHILLIES 6, YANKEES 3Jamie Moyer, 47, worked eight sharp innings to become the old-est pitcher to beat the Yankees. Moyer allowed three hits and two runs. Shane Victorino hit a bases-loaded triple, and Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth hit homers for Philadelphia.

Philadelphia ab r h bi New York ab r h biVictorn cf 4 0 1 3 Jeter ss 4 0 0 0Polanc 3b 5 0 0 0 Swisher rf 4 0 0 0Utley 2b 4 0 1 0 Teixeir 1b 3 1 0 0Howard 1b 4 1 1 1 ARdrgz dh 3 0 1 1Werth rf 3 1 1 1 Cano 2b 4 1 2 1Ibanez lf 3 1 0 0 Posada c 4 1 1 1Dobbs dh 2 1 1 1 Grndrs cf 3 0 0 0BFrncs ph-dh 2 0 0 0 Russo 3b 3 0 1 0Schndr c 2 1 0 0 Gardnr lf 3 0 0 0WValdz ss 4 1 1 0Totals 33 6 6 6 Totals 31 3 5 3Philadelphia 042 000 000 6New York 010 010 001 3

DP —Philadelphia 1. LOB —Philadelphia 6, New York 3. 2B —A.Rodriguez (16). 3B —Victorino (7). HR —Howard (11), Werth (11), Cano (14), Posada (9). SB —Victorino (15), Utley (3), Ibanez (1).Philadelphia IP H R ER BB SOMoyer W,7-6 8 3 2 2 1 5Lidge 1 2 1 1 1 3New York IP H R ER BB SOA.J.Burnett L,6-5 3 1/3 6 6 6 4 3Logan 2 2/3 0 0 0 1 3Gaudin 3 0 0 0 0 3HBP —by A.J.Burnett (Utley). WP —A.J.Burnett. T —2:51. A —47,414 (50,287).

METS 8, INDIANS 4Angel Pagan drove in three runs with three hits to help New York stretch its winning streak to six games. New York tied a season high with seven doubles . Jonathon Niese (4-3) won his third consecu-tive start. New York starters are 16-3 with a 2.61 ERA over 27 games since May 17.

New York ab r h bi Cleveland ab r h biJosRys ss 5 1 1 0 AHrndz ss 5 0 1 0Pagan cf 5 1 3 3 Choo rf 4 0 0 0DWrght 3b 5 1 1 2 CSantn c 3 1 1 1I.Davis 1b 5 1 2 1 Hafner dh 2 0 1 0Bay lf 3 0 2 1 Kearns cf 3 0 0 0JFelicn lf 1 0 0 0 Peralta 3b 3 1 2 1

Carter dh 4 1 1 0 Duncan lf 4 1 2 2Barajs c 4 1 1 0 AMarte 1b 4 0 0 0Francr rf 4 1 2 1 Donald 2b 4 1 2 0RTejad 2b 3 1 1 0Totals 39 8 14 8 Totals 32 4 9 4New York 005 003 000 8Cleveland 000 210 010 4

DP —New York 2. LOB —New York 5, Cleveland 7. 2B —Pagan (11), D.Wright (17), I.Davis 2 (13), Bay (16), Carter (4), Francoeur (11), Donald (6). HR —Duncan (3). SB —Pagan (14). S —R.Tejada. SF —Peralta.New York IP H R ER BB SONiese W,4-2 7 8 3 3 2 3Mejia 0 0 1 1 2 0Dessens 2 1 0 0 1 1Cleveland IP H R ER BB SOTalbot L,7-5 5 2/3 13 8 8 0 3Herrmann 1 1/3 0 0 0 0 1Ambriz 2 1 0 0 0 0Mejia pitched to 2 batters in the 8th. T —2:50. A —14,246 (45,569).

ANGELS 5, BREWERS 1Bobby Wilson drove in three runs with his fi rst major league homer and Mike Napoli also connected for Los Angeles.

Milwaukee ab r h bi Los Angeles ab r h biWeeks 2b 4 0 0 0 HKndrc 2b 4 0 0 0Hart rf 4 0 1 0 Napoli 1b 2 2 2 1Braun lf 3 0 0 0 BAreu rf 4 0 2 0Fielder dh 3 0 0 0 TrHntr cf 3 0 1 1McGeh 3b 4 0 1 0 HMatsu dh 4 0 0 0Edmnd 1b 3 0 0 0 JRiver lf 3 1 1 0Lucroy c 3 0 0 0 Frndsn 3b 4 1 1 0Gomez cf 3 1 1 1 BoWlsn c 3 1 1 3AEscor ss 3 0 0 0 BrWod ss 3 0 1 0Totals 30 1 3 1 Totals 30 5 9 5Milwaukee 001 000 000 1Los Angeles 130 010 00x 5

E —Weeks (8). DP —Milwaukee 3. LOB —Milwaukee 4, Los Angeles 5. 2B —Hart (12). HR —Gomez (4), Napoli (11), Bo.Wilson (1). SB —B.Abreu (11). SF —Tor.Hunter.Milwaukee IP H R ER BB SONarveson L,5-4 4 1/3 7 5 5 2 2Villanueva 1 2/3 0 0 0 0 3Riske 2/3 1 0 0 0 0Braddock 1/3 1 0 0 0 1Hoffman 1 0 0 0 0 0Los Angeles IP H R ER BB SOPineiro W,6-6 8 3 1 1 1 5Rodney 1 0 0 0 1 1HBP —by Riske (Napoli). T —2:32. A —37,416 .

ASTROS 4, ROYALS 2Roy Oswalt pitched seven solid in-nings, and Jason Michaels drove in three runs to lead Houston. Oswalt allowed two runs and six hits and struck out seven.

Houston ab r h bi Kansas City ab r h biBourn cf 4 0 0 0 Pdsdnk lf 4 2 2 0Kppngr 2b 4 1 1 0 Kendall c 2 0 0 1Brkmn 1b 2 2 0 0 DeJess rf 4 0 4 1Ca.Lee dh 3 0 1 1 BButler 1b 4 0 0 0Pence rf 4 1 1 0 JGuilln dh 4 0 2 0P.Feliz 3b 4 0 0 0 Blmqst pr 0 0 0 0

Michals lf 4 0 2 3 Callasp 3b 4 0 0 0Manzell ss 4 0 0 0 Aviles 2b 4 0 0 0Quinter c 3 0 0 0 Maier cf 3 0 0 0 YBtncr ss 3 0 0 0Totals 32 4 5 4 Totals 32 2 8 2Houston 100 201 000 4Kansas City 101 000 000 2

E —Maier (1). DP —Houston 2, Kansas City 1. LOB —Houston 4, Kansas City 5. 2B —Keppinger (19), Michaels (2). 3B —Podsednik (3). SB —Podsednik (19). SF —Kendall.Houston IP H R ER BB SOOswalt W,5-8 7 6 2 2 1 7Lyon H,11 1 1 0 0 0 0Lindstrom S,15-18 1 1 0 0 0 0Kansas City IP H R ER BB SOChen L,3-1 5 2/3 5 4 3 3 6Farnsworth 1 1/3 0 0 0 0 1Bl.Wood 1 0 0 0 0 1Soria 1 0 0 0 0 2T —2:25. A —17,675 (37,840).

NATIONAL LEAGUEDODGERS 6, REDS 2

Andre Ethier had three hits, includ-ing a home run, and drove in three runs and Clayton Kershaw out-pitched rookie Mike Leake, leading Los Angeles. Kershaw (7-3) won a matchup of promising, 22-year-old starters, giving up one run and seven hits in 7 1/3 innings. Ethier’s homer off Leake (5-1) helped send him to his fi rst loss in the majors.

Los Angeles ab r h bi Cincinnati ab r h biFurcal ss 5 1 1 0 OCarer ss 5 0 1 0RMartn c 5 2 2 0 BPhllps 2b 4 1 2 0Ethier rf 5 1 3 3 Votto 1b 4 0 1 0MnRmr lf 4 1 1 1 Rolen 3b 3 0 0 0RJhnsn lf 0 0 0 0 Cairo 3b 1 0 0 0Loney 1b 5 0 2 2 Gomes lf 3 0 2 1Kemp cf 5 0 1 0 Bruce rf 3 0 1 0Blake 3b 4 0 1 0 Stubbs cf 4 0 0 0DeWitt 2b 2 1 0 0 RHrndz c 4 0 1 0JCarrll 2b 0 0 0 0 Leake p 1 0 0 0Kershw p 3 0 0 0 Ondrsk p 0 0 0 0Belisari p 0 0 0 0 Owings ph 1 0 0 0Kuo p 0 0 0 0 Masset p 0 0 0 0 JrSmth p 0 0 0 0 Heisey ph 1 1 1 1Totals 38 6 11 6 Totals 34 2 9 2Los Angeles 000 023 001 6Cincinnati 000 001 001 2

E —Blake (10), DeWitt (4), B.Phillips (2). DP —Los Angeles 1. LOB —Los Angeles 9, Cincinnati 9. 2B —Loney (22), Gomes (13). HR —Ethier (12), Man.Ramirez (7), Heisey (4). SB —Kemp (10). S —Kershaw, Leake. SF —Gomes.Los Angeles IP H R ER BB SOKershaw W,7-3 7 1/3 7 1 1 1 7Belisario 0 1 0 0 0 0Kuo S,1/2 1 2/3 1 1 1 1 1Cincinnati IP H R ER BB SOLeake L,5-1 6 9 5 5 3 4Ondrusek 1 0 0 0 0 1Masset 1 0 0 0 0 0Jor.Smith 1 2 1 1 0 1Belisario pitched to 1 batter in the 8th. T —2:51. A —23,083 (42,319).

BASEBALL ROUNDUP

BY KYLE MEINKE


DETROIT — Baseball’s big-gest rock star will not pitch in the Washington Nationals’ interleague series against the Detroit Tigers this week, but Stephen Strasburg still draws quite a crowd.

The 21-year-old right-hander— who might be the most anticipated rookie pitcher in baseball history — spoke to a sizeable group of reporters in the visitors’ dugout before Wednesday’s game at Comer-ica Park. He broached several topics, including how he has handled his anointment as the game’s biggest draw.

“I think (all the attention) is more enjoyable for my family than myself,” said Strasburg, a native of San Diego, Calif. “I’m not really about all that stuff. I just like to come out here and be with the guys and just play the game.

“I don’t play this game for all the notoriety and all the hype, and being noted by fans. I do this because it’s something I’ve loved to do my whole life.”

He seems to be pretty good at it, too.

Wa s h i n g t o n d r a f t e d Strasburg No. 1 overall last year out of San Diego State amid a growing buzz over his triple-digit fastball and array of dev-astating breaking pitches.

After blowing through the minors and two big league starts, Strasburg is well on his way to developing into some-thing of a rarity — a highly tout-ed rookie even better than the hype. He is 2-0 with a 2.19 ERA,

22 strikeouts and fi ve walks in 12 innings for Washington.

Nationals catcher and for-mer Tiger Ivan Rodriguez said Tuesday that Strasburg has been so effective because he has four plus pitches — a fastball, curveball, sinker and changeup — he can throw for a strike.

Detroit, which faced Stras-burg this year in a spring train-ing game in Viera, Fla., has taken notice.

“The kid has probably picked (the Nationals) up,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said Tuesday.

“Strasburg’s picked them up because he’s won two games.

Forget all the hoopla (crap) ... it’s coming up and doing some-thing, and he has.”

Some already have tagged Strasburg as the savior of base-ball in Washington, a city that has not fi elded a winning team since the 1969 Senators and has won one World Series — in 1924 as the Senators against the New York Giants.

It’s a role Strasburg seems hesitant to embrace — so far, at least.

“I’m not the face of the fran-chise,” he said. “I’ve pitched only two games here. I don’t feel like anybody here expects me to be the guy to turn this franchise around. That’s for guys like Pudge and (Ryan) Zimmerman, who have been around a while.

“I’ve had only two starts. I’m not trying to have too high of expectations or too low of ex-pectations — I’m just trying to take it one day at a time.”

Off the fi eld, Strasburg likes to keep a low profi le. He enjoys golfi ng and prefers to stay out of the spotlight.

Of course, his budding celebrity might impede those wishes.

Still, being a big leaguer has its advantages as well.

What does baseball’s hottest ticket like most so far about the major league lifestyle?

“The food,” Strasburg quipped. “When you have crab legs and shrimp ... for a pre-(batting practice) meal, that’s really saying something.

“But I’m sure the crab legs will get old sooner or later.”


Strasburg draws a crowdEVEN WHEN NOT PITCHING, NATIONALS ROOKIE AT EASE

WHITE SOX 7, PIRATES 2John Danks gave up four hits in eight in-nings and Carlos Quentin drove in two runs with a single and double for Chi-cago. Pittsburgh made six errors.

Chicago White Sox AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Pierre lf 5 2 2 0 0 0 .248Al.Ramirez ss 5 1 1 1 0 0 .260Rios cf 4 2 2 1 1 1 .319Konerko 1b 4 1 3 1 1 0 .294Quentin rf 4 0 2 2 0 1 .207Pierzynski c 4 0 0 0 0 0 .231Beckham 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .206J.Nix 3b 4 1 1 0 0 0 .163Danks p 3 0 0 0 0 1 .000b-An.Jones ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .208T.Pena p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —Totals 38 7 11 5 2 3 Pittsburgh AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Tabata lf 4 1 1 1 0 1 .250N.Walker 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .278A.McCutchen cf 3 0 1 0 1 1 .314G.Jones 1b 4 0 1 0 0 1 .273Doumit c 3 0 0 0 1 0 .268Alvarez 3b 2 1 0 0 1 1 .000Milledge rf 3 0 2 0 0 1 .260Crosby ss 3 0 0 1 0 0 .224Duke p 2 0 0 0 0 0 .091Ja.Lopez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000Meek p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —a-An.LaRoche ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .230Donnelly p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —Totals 29 2 5 2 3 6 Chicago White Sox 000 302 002 7 11 0Pittsburgh 000 010 010 2 5 6

a-grounded out for Meek in the 8th. b-popped out for Danks in the 9th.E —Ja.Lopez (2), Doumit (4), Crosby 2 (6), N.Walker (2),

Alvarez (1). LOB —Chicago 6, Pittsburgh 3. 2B —Rios (16), Quentin (12), J.Nix (1), Milledge (14). 3B —Al.Ramirez (1). HR —Tabata (1), off Danks. RBIs —Al.Ramirez (26), Rios (33), Konerko (47), Quentin 2 (35), Tabata (2), Crosby (8). SB —Pierre 2 (27). Runners left in scoring position —Chicago 5 (Beckham 3, Al.Ramirez, Konerko). Runners moved up —Crosby. GIDP —Quentin, Beckham, G.Jones, Doumit. DP —Chicago 3 (Al.Ramirez, Beckham, Konerko), (Danks, Al.Ramirez), (Al.Ramirez, Konerko); Pittsburgh 2 (Alvarez, N.Walker, G.Jones), (N.Walker, Crosby, G.Jones).Chicago White Sox IP H R ER BB SO NP ERADanks W, 6-5 8 4 2 2 3 6 108 3.18T.Pena 1 1 0 0 0 0 8 4.32Pittsburgh IP H R ER BB SO NP ERADuke L, 3-8 5 2/3 8 5 5 1 2 87 5.49Ja.Lopez 1 1/3 1 0 0 0 0 14 2.22Meek 1 1 0 0 0 1 24 0.72Donnelly 1 1 2 0 1 0 21 5.95Inherited runners-scored —Ja.Lopez 1-0. Umpires —Home,

Brian Gorman; First, Paul Nauert; Second, Ted Barrett; Third, Tony Randazzo. T —2:26. A —15,218 (38,362).

CUBS 6, ATHLETICS 2Ryan Dempster pitched into the seventh inning for the win, allowing two runs while Derrek Lee homered for Chicago. Alfonso Soriano and Starlin Castro had two RBIs each for the Cubs.

Oakland AB R H BI BB SO Avg.C.Jackson lf 3 1 2 0 1 0 .500Barton 1b 4 0 2 1 0 0 .288R.Sweeney cf 3 0 1 1 0 1 .302Kouzmanoff 3b 3 0 0 0 1 2 .290K.Suzuki c 4 0 1 0 0 0 .273Cust rf 4 0 1 0 0 2 .299A.Rosales ss 2 0 0 0 0 1 .270T.Ross p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000Bowers p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —b-E.Patterson ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .208M.Ellis 2b 4 0 1 0 0 1 .279G.Gonzalez p 2 0 0 0 0 2 .000Pennington ss 2 1 1 0 0 1 .218Totals 32 2 9 2 2 10 Chicago Cubs AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Theriot 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .283Je.Baker 3b 3 1 1 0 1 1 .247Byrd cf 3 1 0 0 1 0 .325D.Lee 1b 4 2 2 1 0 2 .230Nady rf 3 1 2 1 0 0 .263Colvin rf 1 0 1 0 0 0 .311A.Soriano lf 2 1 1 2 1 0 .278Soto c 3 0 1 0 1 2 .268S.Castro ss 1 0 1 2 2 0 .269Dempster p 3 0 0 0 0 1 .179Marshall p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000a-Zambrano ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .188Marmol p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —Totals 28 6 9 6 6 8 Oakland 100 000 100 2 9 0Chicago Cubs 020 130 00x 6 9 0

a-struck out for Marshall in the 8th. b-flied out for Bowers in the 9th.LOB —Oakland 7, Chicago 6. 2B —Colvin (9), A.Soriano (19),

Soto (6). HR —D.Lee (8), off G.Gonzalez. RBIs —Barton (24), R.Sweeney (29), D.Lee (27), Nady (18), A.Soriano 2 (34), S.Castro 2 (16). S —A.Rosales, A.Soriano. SF —R.Sweeney, S.Castro. Runners left in scoring position —Oakland 4 (K.Suzuki 2, G.Gonzalez, R.Sweeney); Chicago 3 (Dempster 2, Zambrano). Runners moved up —Barton. GIDP —K.Suzuki, Cust, Byrd. DP —Oakland 1 ; Chicago 2 .Oakland IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAG.Gonzalez L, 6-5 5 8 6 6 3 3 89 4.21T.Ross 2 0 0 0 2 3 29 5.94Bowers 1 1 0 0 1 2 19 4.05Chicago Cubs IP H R ER BB SO NP ERADempster W, 5-5 6 2/3 8 2 2 2 7 120 3.67Marshall 1 1/3 1 0 0 0 1 14 1.93Marmol 1 0 0 0 0 2 8 1.80Inherited runners-scored —Marshall 1-0. IBB —off Bowers

(S.Castro), off G.Gonzalez (Soto). WP —Dempster 2. T —2:33. A —36,244 .

TIGERS 8, NATIONALS 3

Washington AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Morgan cf 4 0 0 0 0 3 .248C.Guzman 2b 4 1 1 0 0 2 .297A.Dunn 1b 4 1 1 1 0 1 .284Zimmerman 3b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .296I.Rodriguez c 4 0 2 1 0 1 .340Bernadina rf 4 1 1 1 0 0 .282W.Harris lf 3 0 0 0 0 1 .158Morse dh 3 0 2 0 0 0 .424Desmond ss 2 0 0 0 0 1 .268Totals 32 3 7 3 0 11 Detroit AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Kelly cf 4 0 0 1 0 0 .217Damon dh 5 0 0 0 0 1 .281Ordonez rf 3 2 1 0 1 1 .324Mi.Cabrera 1b 3 2 1 0 1 1 .331Boesch lf 4 2 3 4 0 0 .344C.Guillen 2b 2 1 1 0 2 0 .301Inge 3b 2 1 0 1 2 0 .251Laird c 4 0 1 2 0 0 .180Santiago ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 .241Totals 30 8 7 8 6 3

Washington 110 001 000 3 7 1Detroit 041 000 30x 8 7 0

E —C.Guzman (7). LOB —Washington 3, Detroit 6. 2B —C.Guillen (11). HR —A.Dunn (15), off Verlander; Bernadina (4), off Verlander; Boesch (9), off L.Hernandez. RBIs —A.Dunn (36), I.Rodriguez (21), Bernadina (19), Kelly (4), Boesch 4 (34), Inge (27), Laird 2 (9). SB —Bernadina (5). CS —I.Rodriguez (2). S —Santiago. SF —Kelly. Runners left in scoring position —Washington 2 (W.Harris, A.Dunn); Detroit 2 (Damon, Santiago). Runners moved up —Morgan, A.Dunn, Mi.Cabrera. GIDP —Desmond. DP —Detroit 1 (Santiago, Mi.Cabrera).Washington IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAL.Hernandez L, 5-4 6 2/3 7 8 8 6 2 110 2.94Batista 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 5 4.72Capps 1 0 0 0 0 1 15 3.26Detroit IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAVerlander W, 8-4 8 7 3 3 0 11 116 3.54E.Gonzalez 1 0 0 0 0 0 9 0.00Inherited runners-scored —Batista 1-0. HBP —by Verlander (Desmond). T —2:26. A —24,767 (41,255).

PATRICK LEYLAND, son of Tigers manager Jim Leyland, will sign with the Tigers as soon as he passes a physical, which was scheduled today in Lakeland, Fla. Leyland, 18, a catcher from Pittsburgh Bishop Canevin High, will forego a scholarship to the University of Maryland. He was an eighth-round pick. Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge has grown particularly close to him, and they’ve often worked together in batting cages. “He has a good head and a great work ethic,” Inge said. “He’s obviously been around the game long enough, and

he knows how to slow it down. He’ll still get the butterflies, but will calm down quicker than the others. He has a short, compact, strong stroke catered to hitting for average and gap to gap.” Detroit also announced the signing of 16 other draft picks. Leyland will become the highest pick signed.

RIGHT FIELDER MAGGLIO ORDONEZ had gone more than one week without facing a major league pitcher, and he returned Tuesday to go 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles and singles. On Wednesday, he

had one hit and scored two runs. Ordonez missed six games with a sore left oblique. “It’s still not 100 percent,” he said, “but, in the big leagues, you have to play with it.”

ROOKIE CENTER FIELDER Austin Jackson sat out his second consecutive game after suffering a mild lower back strain while making a catch in Sunday’s game. “I strained the ligament and it’s better,” Jackson said. “We’re just going to let it heal and keep it loose with heat. I’m going to try to swing and see how it feels.”

TIGERS NOTES

CONTINUED FROM B1

dangerous if you miss, and (his hits) have got a lot of sound.”

Boesch said, “I like the chal-lenge. But I don’t read much into it. I keep it simple, and I don’t try to over-think. Getting hits off front-line guys is more for you guys and my parents. I just want to contribute to wins. I seeMagglio and Miggy do it.”

That would be Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera, the premier hitters in Detroit’s lineup who benefi t from Boesch batting behind them at No. 5 in the batting order.

Boesch is the American League leader in all Triple Crown categories for rookies with a .344 batting average, nine homers and 34 RBIs. He has pulled away from team-mate and starting center fi elder Austin Jackson as the league’s Rookie of the Year favorite.

“He’s been special so far,”

Leyland said. “No question about it.”

Hernandez, who came into the game 5-3 with the fi fth-low-est earned run average (2.28) in the National League and a .234 batting average against, had control problems. He walked six in 6 2/3 innings.

Tigers catcher Gerald Laird, who continues to make solid contact while breaking out of a slump, had a two-run single in the second inning. Brandon Inge walked with the bases loaded and Don Kelly added a sacrifi ce fl y as Detroit scored four runs in the second.

Laird had three hits in the first game of the series, and has a modest four-game hitting streak. But it has been enough to boost his batting average to .180 from .156.

“I’m feeling really good,” Laird said. “I can’t wait to get to the plate right now.”

Hernandez, winner of two 1997 World Series games with Florida when he played for Leyland, had allowed three or fewer runs in all but one start.

Verlander (8-4) gave up solo homers to Adam Dunn and Roger Bernadina, and an RBI single to former battery mate Ivan Rodriguez. He won his third consecutive start .

“He’s a horse,” Leyland said. “He’s been tremendous.”

Verlander said negating the walks allowed him to pitch deep into a high-strikeout game. He was two shy of a career-best 13 strikeouts.

“You get yourself in that rhythm and keep pounding the strike zone and throwing strikes,” Verlander said. “I was able to throw my breaking ball for strikes and my changeup for strikes. And I was able to throw them in the dirt when I wanted.”

TIGERS BOESCH LEADS AL ROOKIES

AP PHOTO

In hiding: The Tigers won’t see Washington rookie pitching sensation Stephen Strasburg in this series, except when he sticks his head out of the dugout.

AMERICAN LEAGUEHOME RUNS: MiCabrera, Detroit, 19; JBautista, Toronto, 18; Konerko, Chicago, 17; Hamilton, Texas, 16; VWells, Toronto, 16; CPena, Tampa Bay, 15 .

LEADERS

B6 THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 2010 THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS

BY ANSAR KHAN

PRESS NEWS SERVICE

DETROIT — It is rare for a general manager to remain with one organization for more than a dozen years and highly uncommon for a management

team to stick together that long.

But the De-troit Red Wings have had re-markable con-tinuity in their front office, a major factor for their success.

That foun-dation will re-main in place for a while, as the club signed general manag-er Ken Holland and assistant GM Jim Nill to five-year con-

tract extensions.Holland, 54, has been the GM

since 1997 and has been in the organization for 27 years, as a player, scout and front-offi ce executive. Nill, 52, has been at his current position since 1998.

“We have had good stability in the front offi ce,’’ Red Wings senior vice president Jimmy Devellano said. “They’re peo-ple that started in our organi-zation as players. We got to know them, brought them in as

scouts. They were good work-ers, passionate about the Red Wings and the game.

“Both had opportunities to go other places. But we always tried to step up and do what we had to do to keep them. They liked the environment, the fam-ily atmosphere. It goes to show you how hard we worked to retain them.’’

Each has one year remain-ing on his current deal, so their new pacts take effect in 2011-12 and run through the 2015-16 season.

As GM, Holland’s teams have won more regular season games (588) and postseason games (99) than any other club in the NHL. He has contributed to four Stanley Cup champion-ships, three as a GM and one as an assistant GM.

“I’m very fortunate I work for incredible owners who have tremendous passion for the team, the city and the sport,’’ Holland said. “They give the hockey department all the tools to be successful; makes your job all the more enjoyable.

“We want to continue to build upon what’s gone on here the last 10-15 years.’’

Nill’s duties include direct-ing Detroit’s amateur scouting department and overseeing all selections made at the entry draft. Prior to becoming the assistant GM, he served as De-troit’s director of player devel-opment for four seasons. He spent the fi nal 2 1/2 seasons of

his nine-year NHL career with the Red Wings.

“We go way back, played ju-nior hockey together, have a great friendship,’’ Nill said of his relationship with Holland.

“Continuity is so important. That’s a big part of our suc-cess. The scouting staff has been together for 10-15 years. The core of our team has been around a long time. It’s a unique environment.’’

Nill earns a GM’s salary and has much of the responsibili-ties. His new deal gives him more fl exibility to seek a GM job than his current contract, which prohibits him from speaking to other clubs. The new pact contains a window of opportunity to speak to other teams starting in the third year (2013-14).

“I’m very blessed,’’ Nill said. “I work for one of the top sports organizations in the world. From ownership to the manage-ment team of Ken Holland and Jimmy Devellano to the scout-ing staff led by Joe McDonnell and Hakan Andersson to Mike Babcock and the coaching staff, I’m very lucky to work for one of the most unique franchises in the world.’’

Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch, in a statement, said Holland and Nill have been the cornerstone to the franchise’s success.

“Marian (Ilitch) and I feel strongly that stability is key to success for any organization and having these new agree-ments in place with these two top-notch NHL executives is important to the Red Wings organization and its future,’’ Ilitch said.

Red Wings extend Holland, NillCLUB BUCKS THE NORM, GIVES GM, ASSISTANT GM FIVE MORE YEARS

Ken Holland

Jim Nill

BY GREG JOHNSON


ORCHARD LAKE — The wind whipped, a big tree got in the way and Ada’s Andy Matthews called it a tough day.

But he still had the lead heading into today’s fi nal round of the 93rd Michigan Open Championship at Orchard Lake Country Club.

Matthews, a 30-year-old Canadian Tour player, shot a 2-under-par 69 Wednesday and had a one-shot lead on Brighton club pro Eric Wohlfield and two shots on defending champion Ryan Brehm of Mount Pleasant.

“I held serve a little bit, I’ll take it,” he said. “I hung in there and I’m right where I want to be — in contention to win a golf tournament. This is why we spend all the time working on our games.”

Matthews’ 69, which includ-ed six birdies, a double-bogey when stymied by a huge oak tree on the par-5 12th, a bogey on the 14th and a bogey on the last hole with three putts, put him at 14-under-par 199.

Wohlfi eld, a 30-year-old who works part time at Huntmore Golf Club and is attempting to become a touring pro, fi red a 65, the best round of the day, to land at 200.

“I played well, putted ex-tremely well, and managed the wind pretty well,” he said. “I’m pretty comfortable with my game. I can’t over-power the course like some of the guys, but I feel good about my game.”

Brehm, 27 and a Hooters Tour player, can over-power the course. He had a trio of three-putt bogeys in his round,

but birdied the 390-yard, par-4 18th with a bombing tee shot into a bunker in front of the green to fi nish. It gave him a fi nal 70 for 201, and a chance to feel good.

“Tough day in the wind. I couldn’t get a putt to drop, but I’m proud of the way I hung in there,” he said. “I’ll be part of the dogfi ght and that’s what you want. Andy is going to be

tough to beat, I know that. He is playing well.”

Muskegon’s Andy Ruthkoski, the 2007 Michigan Open cham-pion, shot a 71 and was tied at 204 with East Lansing mini-tour player Korey Mahoney, who shot 70.

Thousand Oaks Golf Club head pro Gary Smithson fi red a 68 for 205, six shots off the lead. He was tied with six-time Michigan Open champion Scott Hebert of Grand Traverse Resort, who shot 67, and Detroit Golf Club’s Eric Dovre, who shot 68.

Brian Ottenweller, a mini-tour player from Grand Rapids, shot 72 and was at 208 and tied for 12th place. Boulder Creek pro Joe Pollack shot 72 and was at even-par 213.

Matthews looked to take a big lead when he hit a 3-wood second shot behind the tree at No. 12. He tried to hook a punch shot, but it rebounded off the trunk and went farther into a group of trees. Eventually, he carded a double-bogey 7.

Immediately following that hole, though, he made birdie on the par-3 13th and the par-4 14th.

“I made some great putts for birdies after I made the mis-take on 12, and to make back-to-back birdies — that was the best part of the round because it showed I didn’t let it get to me,” he said.

“To come back and make good shots and get those shots right back was cool.”


Matthews maintains Michigan Open leadAda man shoots 2-under

to retain one-shot cushion

Editor’s note: In the 10 days leading up to the 2010 NBA draft, Detroit Pistons beat writer Chris Iott is highlighting the top prospects in the draft along with several players the Pistons are likely to consider with the No. 7 pick. Today: DeMarcus Cousins, Kentucky.

BY CHRIS IOTT

PRESS NEWS SERVICE

Some basketball experts would argue DeMarcus Cousinsis the type of player who could bring a general manager a championship.

Others would say he is the type of person that could bring a GM a pink slip.

It is diffi cult to fi nd a big-ger wild card among the top 10 picks in the June 24 NBA draft than Cousins, who is thought by many to be the best player available in the draft — even better than former Kentucky teammate and consensus No. 1 pick John Wall.

But his maturity has been questioned for some time. Then Cousins showed up at the pre-draft camp in Chicago last month claiming to be in the best shape of his life and weighed in north of 290 pounds with 16.4 percent body fat.

According to DraftExpress.com, just 11 players have been measured with a higher per-centage of body fat at the pre-draft camp.

Reports say Cousins had a spectacular workout for the Sacramento Kings last week and also had his body fat down to 13 percent. That’s a step in

the right direction, for sure.His numbers — 15.1 points

and 9.8 rebounds per game — as a freshman are impressive but become even more so when you look at another number: He put up those stats while playing just 23.5 minutes per game.

His tremendous upside has some pegging him as a poten-tial top-three pick, while oth-ers have suggested he could fall all the way to the Pistons at No. 7.

Chances are slim, but De-troit’s Ben Wallace could be a big help in making sure Cous-ins keeps growing up. And keeps slimming down.

CONTINUED FROM B1

The anti-media rant by �all three key parties who spoke at Tuesday night’s press conference — Izzo and, more interestingly, university president Lou Anna K. Simon and athletic director Mark Hollis — was strange. Izzo’s superiors scattershot and broad-brushed about their perceived poor reporting of a story to which which they offered exceptionally little insight and correction as it transpired. Did they think silence would make efforts to track the story vanish? Yes, Internet bloggers who shoot from the hip about things they know little or nothing about make us all crazy. But when you don’t talk about stories you don’t like, and/or inaccuracies, there’s inevitably roadkill, as Izzo himself might put it.

Lynn Henning’s role in �taking Izzo to task for just that lack of specifi city in the anti-media complaint was completely within his right, although it turned

into an overly lengthy harangue that hijacked the news conference when more important issues were at hand. Henning, a Detroit News veteran, wrote a column the day before Izzo announced he was staying that essentially said the issue had dragged on too long and the perception of Izzo’s loyalties might be too damaged to allow him to stay. I don’t agree, although Henning had the right to express his opinion, and if Izzo wanted to set it straight, he could have commented when given the opportunity. Given that Izzo didn’t respond to a couple of my texts after I returned from vacation this week, and hung up on me after answering my call Tuesday afternoon, I’m pretty comfortable saying his lack of comment was not

due to any reportorial lack of effort.Izzo said Hollis sat in on �about half of his discussions with the Cavaliers. Izzo clearly likes working alongside football coach Mark Dantonio, appreciates the approach Hollis has taken with athletic administration as a whole, and stayed in part because he is more comfortable with the direction of the MSU athletic machine than at any other time during his tenure.In the end, this wasn’t a

money grab or a study in faded loyalty.

If it were, Izzo would’ve taken the windfall. It was a person investigating a potentially better opportunity and deciding it wasn’t. And that’s that.


PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHIGAN PGA

Swing away: Andy Matthews, of Ada, tees off at the first tee of the third round at the Michigan Open on Wednesday. Matthews leads the event heading into play today.

Cousins is wild card in NBA draft

BIO BOX

DeMarcus CousinsSize: 6-foot-11, 290 poundsAge: 19Position: Power forwardCollege: Kentucky2009-10 stats: 15.1 points, 9.8 rebounds per gameNBADraft.net player comparison: Eddy Curry/Benoit BenjaminDraft projection: Cousins likely will go fifth or sixth.A Pistons pick? No matter what the negative buzz is, it still seems unlikely Cousins will fall to No. 7. Could the Pistons trade up to get him? Sure. The latest chatter — the Pistons’ pick at No. 7 and Tayshaun Prince to Sacramento for the fifth pick and Andres Nocioni — makes as much sense as any rumor out there.

MAYO ANTI-MEDIA FOCUS AT IZZO NEWS CONFERENCE IS ODD

STATE SPORTS NBA


LOS ANGELES — Even when Lamar Odom was a kid with limitless imagination growing up on New York’s playground courts, he thinks he might have dismissed tonight’s seasonfi nale as a bit too extravagant.

When the Los Angeles Lakers take on the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, Odom realizes it’s a fan-tasy come true for any basket-ball player with the audacity to dream this big.

“It’s historic, especially when you talk about these teams and what they stand for, the pride,” the Lakers forward said Wednesday. “This is what you envision when you’re a kid in your backyard. Counting down, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...”

Another memorable chap-ter in the NBA’s best rivalry will end with a coronation at Staples Center, where the de-fending champion Lakers will try to earn their 16th banner while denying Boston its un-precedented 18th title in the clubs’ second Finals meeting in three years.

For the fi fth time in their 12 Finals meetings, Boston and Los Angeles need all seven games to decide it. Each pre-vious time it went to Game 7, the Celtics won — but when the current Lakers and Celt-ics take the court for the NBA

Finals’ fi rst Game 7 since 2005 and just its second in the past 16 years, most will try awfully hard not to think about the his-tory and pressure heaped on their shoulders.

Although Boston has the ri-valry’s Game 7 history on its side, the Celtics have plenty stacked against them after an embarrassing 89-67 loss in Game 6 Tuesday night.

Most glaringly, Boston won’t have starting center Kendrick Perkins, who sprained multiple ligaments in his right knee in the fi rst quarter.

The Celtics’ starting five has never lost a playoff series, but that fi ve must change for Game 7. Although Perkins is a role player next to Boston’s Big Three and point guard Rajon Rondo, the Celtics must hope former Detroit Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace and young-ster Glen Davis can make up for Perkins’ inside defense and rebounding.

No visiting team has won an NBA championship in Game 7 since the Washington Bullets did it in 1978, yet the Celtics are a whole lot more worried about the Lakers than the Hollywood crowd.

CELTICS VS. LAKERS (Series tied 3-3)Game 1: L.A. 102, Boston 89Game 2: Boston 103, L.A. 94Game 3: L.A. 91, Boston 84Game 4: Boston 96, L.A. 89Game 5: Boston 92, L.A. 86Game 6: Boston 89, L.A. 67Tonight: Boston at L.A. , 9 ABC

Celtics, Lakers ready for showdown

NBA FINALS

AP PHOTO

Up and over: Los Angeles’ Lamar Odom, right, shoots against Boston’s Rasheed Wallace — a former Piston — in the Lakers’ Game 6 win Tuesday, which forced tonight’s Game 7.

Boston, L.A. meetin Game 7 for fifth time

in 12 Finals series

BY ANSAR KHAN

PRESS NEWS SERVICE

DETROIT — If Ilari Filppula is ready for the NHL, he might find himself playing alongside his younger brother at some point next season for the Detroit Red Wings.

The Red Wings signed Ilari Filppula, a 28-year-old free-agent forward from Finland, to a one-year con-tract. He is the older broth-er of Detroit center Valtteri Filppula.

Filppula, a 5-foot-11 , 191-pound winger who can play center, will compete for a job in training camp. If he doesn’t make the team, he will be assigned to the Grand Rapids Griffi ns.

Filppula, who has played his entire career in Finland, inked a two-way contract for $500,000 ($105,000 in the AHL).

AP PHOTO

Decision day: Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo announces at a news conference Tuesday he is staying at the school.

Detroit signs elder Filppula

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