ANSAN
2009
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2009
SPORTS|7B
MLB
Royals win in 11th inning
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kansas City Royals' David DeLusso reacts after striking out with the bases loaded and ending the sixth inning of a baseball game against the White Sox on Tuesday, in Kansas City, Mo.
BY JOHN MARSHALL Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — John Buck lined a game-winning single with the bases loaded in the 11th inning and helped the Kansas City Royals complete an 8-7 comeback victory against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night.
Kansas City came back from a 4-0 deficit to tie it at 7-all on Billy Butler's run-scorning single in the seventh. Mitch Maier set up the winning run by walking with one out, then went to third on Wille Bloomquist's hit-and-run single off Lance Broadway (0-1). Alberto Callaspo was intentionally walked and Buck lined the next pitch just past third baseman Josh Fields.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Juan Cruz (2-0) pitched the 11th and set up Buck's game-winner. Mike Jacobs hit a long three-run homer and Callaspo added a solo shot and a run-scorring double for the Royals, who have won four straight and six of seven.
Jermaine Dye and Iosh Fields returned from hand injuries to homer and Scott Podsednik drove in two runs for Chicago, which had 16 hits. A.J. Pierzynski had four hits and Carlos Quentin three, but the White Sox stranded 13 runners on and lost four straight to Kansas City for the first time since 2003.
The White Sox staked starter Gavin Floyd to a a 4-1 lead in three innings and he gave it all back, allowing a solo homer to Callapso in the third inning and a 'three-run, 441-foot shot to Jacobs in the fourth. The right-hander ran into trouble again in the sixth inning, chased after a leadoff walk to Jose Guillen and Butler's single.
The Royals crept back within one, but Davies gave up another run in the fourth on Carlos Quentin's RBI single and was done after Dye's lead off single in the fifth. Alexei Ramirez followed with a run-scoring single off Robinson Tejeda and Podsednik made it 7-4 with a sacrifice飞。
Kansas City Royals manager Trey Hillman talks to home plate mugger Jerry Crawford during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday in Kansas City, Mo.
MVP James leads Cavs to victory
NBA
BY TOM WITHERS
Associated Press
CLEVELAND The Cleveland Cavaliers shook off some rust, and then the Atlanta Hawks.
Newly crowned MVP LeBron James scored 34 points and the well-rested Cavs, who waited nine days between playoff games after a first-round sweep, pulled away in the second half for a 99-72 victory against the Atlanta Hawks in their Eastern Conference semifinal opener on Tuesday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Showing why he was voted the league's best player in a landslide, James added 10 rebounds, three assists and four steals as the top-seeded Cavs won their fifth straight lopsided game in a postseason that has so far mirrored the best regular season in franchise history.
The Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James shoots over the Atlanta Hawks' Josh Smith at the end of the second quarter of an NBA basketball Eastern Conference semifinals game Tuesday in Cleveland.
Mo Williams added 21 points for Cleveland, which has won each of its five games by double figures.
With the Cavs up by 21, James was pulled with 4:29 left — extra down time before Game 2 on Thursday night at Quicken Loans Arena, where the Cavaliers are 42-2.
Josh Smith scored 22 and Mike Bibby 19 for the Hawks, who needed seven games to get past Miami and are playing in the second round for the first time in 10 years.
James was presented with his MVP trophy before the game by league commissioner David Stern, who complimented the 24-year-old superstar's selflessness, saying "you led the team by playing team first" to get the award. James did that for all 35 minutes on the floor.
Perhaps out of sync because of the long layoff, the Cavs were sluggish in the first half and didn't take control until the third
Stern's praise was nearly drowned out by more than 20,000 fans chanting "M-V-PI" in another salute to James, the first Cavaliers player to win the award.
quarter, when they outscored the Hawks 28-17. As usual, Cleveland relied on its defense to turn things around after halftime.
"I think the team knew and I knew the ceremony was going to happen, but we still had a game to play," James said. "We didn't want to rain in the ceremony by not preparing ourselves the best way to come out and play. We had some lapses in the first half, but we got it going in the third and fourth quarter and took care of the game."
With the Hawks still within eight, James was all alone on defense but stopped a 2-on-1 by
drawing a charge on Joe Johnson. Later in the quarter, Wally Szczerbiak moved his feet to take a charge, a defensive play that had Cavs coach Mike Brown dancing on the sideline as if it was a game-winning shot.
Wearing special Nikes to honor his MVP win, James was scary from the outset, starting as though he needed to prove he deserved the award.
He dunked on Cleveland's first possession, got his second bucket on a left-handed finger roll and finished the first quarter with 16 points and five rebounds, leading the Cavs to a 25-21 lead.