MONDAY,APRIL 15,2002
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 5B
Cleveland off to stunning start
The Associated Press
CLEVELAND — Rain finally slowed down the Cleveland Indians, whose 10-game winning streak was on hold after their series finale against the Kansas City Royals was postponed by bad weather yesterday.
No makeup date was announced.
Cleveland (11-1), off to its best start since opening 1966 at 14-1, will have an off day on Monday before opening a four-game series in Chicago on Tuesday. Jim Thome didn't want the rest.
On Saturday, he homered for the fourth straight game as Cleveland rallied from five runs down in the eighth inning to beat the Ravals 8-7.
"It would have been nice to get out there again," he said yesterday. "Especially after the way we won yesterday. You like to get back out there and have some more fun when you're playing like this. This has been a great start."
Matt Lawton hit a three-run homer in
Cleveland's five-run eighth Saturday, and the Indians won it in the bottom of the ninth on a wild pitch. The comeback win was the 93rd time the Indians have won in their last at-bat at home since the lake opened in 1994.
"How many?" Thome said. "Wow. And you know what, I've been here for most of them."
The improbable win was further proof to Thome that this could be a special season in Cleveland.
Since spring training.
Since spring training, Thome said he has been impressed with how quickly this year's team, which includes several new, key players like Lawton and Ricky Gutierrez, has jelled.
"We've had some great teams, but I think this one has the best camaraderie of any I've been on here," he said. "And what I really like about this team is that, bottom line, nobody cares about stats. We're winning games and that's all that wears are talking about."
The offense, which was supposed to
sutter without Roberto Alomar and
sutter.
Juan Gonzalez, entered yesterday leading the league in runs, homers, total bases and walks.
"We'd like to see this thing go on for as long as we can," said outfielder Ellis Burks, batting. 419 and among the leaders in nearly all offensive category. "We wanted to get off to a nice start and this has been a lot of fun."
Indians manager Charlie Manuel said Chuck Finley, scheduled to go on yesterday, would start the series opener Tuesday in Chicago against Jon Rauch.
Finley, who had to skip his first start this season after allegedly being attacked by his wife, pitched six shutout innings in his debut last week against Minnesota.
The Royals are also off on Monday and will play at Minnesota on Tuesday night.
Manager Tony Muser said Dan Reichert will be pushed back and start the opener against Twins right-hander Rick Reed. Paul Byrd faces Brad Radke on Wednesday and Jeff Suppan will pitch the series finale against Eric Milton.
Boston Marathon boosts security
The Associated Press
BOSTON — A warning to anyone considering foul play along the Boston Marathon course: That runner who just huffed by could be a cop.
As many as 600 officers, half from the Boston Police Department, are expected to run in today's race, supplementing the unprecedented force that will guard the race's first edition in the security-conscious days following the Sept. 11 attacks.
Although they have no official duties, the running police will be prepared to leave the course if they're needed.
Boston are safe.
There have been no specific threats directed at the 106th running of this marathon, but race organizers are following the trend of other big sporting events by beefing up security to make sure that the expected 17,000 runners and nearly 1.5 million spectators along the 26.2-mile course from Hopkinton to
About 1,500 police will guard the course, along with 415 National Guard troops and another 1,500 law enforcement personnel. Helicopters, bomb-sniffing dogs, hazardous materials teams and radiation detectors have been added or increased this year, and the whole crew will be in contact with the state's emergency bunker in Framingham. Runners have submitted information for background checks.
If everything goes well, no one on the course or alongside it will have to worry about anything but the course itself.
"All I want to do is get up the hill and over the hill," said Evans, who is running in his 11th Boston Marathon.
Defending champion Lee Bong-ju of South Korea and the rest of the top five finishers are back from last year to form a strong field even without Khalid Khannouchi, who broke the world record in London yesterday by finishing in 2
hours, 5 minutes, 38 seconds.
Kenya's Catherine Ndereba is back in Boston trying for a third consecutive victory in the women's race, an achievement that would put her alongside her two predecessors, Uta Pippig and Fatuma Roba. Poland's Malgorzata Sobanska, who finished second by almost 3 minutes last year, is back trying to close the gap.
Also returning are the top American finishers from 2001: Josh Cox, of El Cajon, Calif., who was 14th last year, and Jill Gaitenby, of Northampton, Mass., who was 13th among the women.
Marathon organizers are emphasizing the history of Patriots' Day, the state holiday to commemorate the start of the American Revolution and the traditional day of the marathon. Among the patriotic touches: the start and finish line will be red, white and blue, the race logo includes two U.S. flags, and a fighter jet flyover will precede the start.
Venus Williams squeezes narrow victory in tourney
The Associated Press
AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — Experience has been Venus Williams' best teacher.
A slow start yesterday in the final of the Bausch & Lomb Championships didn't faze Williams. It only made her more determined to rally and beat Justine Henin for her fourth title this year
Back in the day, I lost a lot of matches like these," Williams said after overcoming fatigue and 60 unforced errors to win the $585,000 clay court event 2-6,7-5,7-6 (5).
"I guess about two years ago it came to a point where I was tired of losing. I was tired of heartbreak," Williams added. "I was tired, not that I didn't deserve it, of watching other people win when I was at the finish line."
The title was her 16th in the past three seasons, and 25th overall, boosting her career earnings past $9.8 million.
Williams was down a set and four games before working her way back into the match. Twice, she was within two points of losing, but found a way to keep going in the heat.
"I just wanted it to look presentable. I
didn't want to lose 6-2, 6-0," said Williams, who also rebounded from a slow start to beat Anne Kremer in the semifinals. "I got a game, then I got another. I kept telling myself I wasn't losing today."
An exhausted Henin, playing her third match in 24 hours, served twice for the championship. But she couldn't hold a 5-4 lead in the second set, then faltered again when she had a chance to close after going up 5-3 in the third.
close my eyes. "I'm a little disappointed, but that's tennis," Henin said. "I'm only 19. I got nervous trying to finish the match. I have to work on that."
Williams won five straight points to go up 6-1 in the third-set tiebreaker. The second-seeded Henin fought off match point four times before smashing a forehand into the net to end the 2-hour, 24-minute match.
It was Henin's third loss to Williams in a final this year.
"She was impressive," said Henin, ranked ninth in the world. "She's a tough player, a great champion, and I have a lot of respect for her."
Williams has won 16 of the last 17 finals she played. She's 5-1 lifetime against Henin.
Andretti extends win record
The Associated Press
LONG BEACH, Calif. — A little pit strategy and a lot of determination carried Michael Andretti to victory yesterday, his second in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
The second win in the streets of this Southern California city took 15 years for Andretti, a second-generation driving star and the best-known name in the CART FedEx Series.
"It was big, it was big." Andretti enthused after pulling off his helmet. "This is where I won my first race."
Now the oldest driver in the Champ car series at 39, the win extended Andretti's record as CART's career victory leader to 42 and was his first since July of 2001 in Toronto.
Andretti started 15th and was well back in the field until Team Motorola took a calculated gamble by keeping his
Honda-powered Reynard on track while most of the leaders pitted on lap 33 of the 90-lap event.
He slipped back into the field when he pitted under green on lap 47, but took the top spot for good when leader Jimmy Vasser and the other front-runners made their final stops on lap 62.
Both Andretti and Max Papis, who followed the same strategy, took advantage of the fifth of six caution flags in the race to make their final stops on lap 64.
Papis was two seconds behind Andretti and 34 seconds ahead of Vasser before the caution waved and, with Vasser slow to get around the pace car under the yellow flag, both leaders came back onto the track at the front of the pack.
Andretti, who had to go to a backup car after crashing in Saturday's qualifying, had Vasser squarely in his mirrors the last 18 laps.