2B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 2007
MLB
Yankees prospect newest addition to injured list
ARLINGTON, Texas — Phil Hughes was working on a no-hitter in the seventh inning of his second major league start when a hamstring injury cost him a chance to make history.
The Yankees' prized prospect is expected to miss four to six weeks, a sour end to an otherwise encouraging night for the last-place club. New York responded to criticism from owner George Steinbrenner in a big way Tuesday with a 10-1 rout of the Texas Rangers.
The 20-year-old right-hander, considered one of the top prospects in baseball, was cruising along in a dominant performance when he winced and grabbed the back of his left thigh after throwing an 0-2 breaking ball to Mark Teixeira with one out in the seventh. Hughes was removed with a 9-0 lead after his 83rd pitch.
Hughes was called up from Triple-A Scranton to fill a spot in New York's injury-depleted rotation. Mike Mussina (hamstring), Carl Pavano (forearm) and Jeff Karstens (broken right leg) are on the disabled list. Chien-Ming Wang also missed the first three weeks of the season with a hamstring injury.
New York went 9-14 in April and finished the month 6 1/2 games behind first-place Boston in the AL East. That roused Steinbrenner to issue his first public remarks of the season Monday, at once throwing his support behind manager Joe Torre and rebuking the $195 million team for its record.
Pitcher gains composure after rough start
CLEVELAND — Rocked for three homers in the first inning, C.C. Sabathia buckled down to stay unbeaten and Jhonny Peralta had a career-high five RBI for host Cleveland.
After enduring a season-opening month of snow, postponements and travel, Cleveland began May with a comeback
victory, scoring nine consecutive runs to win for the eighth time in nine games.
Sabathia (4-0) found himself down 3-0 five batters into the game. But the left-hander settled in and held the Blue Jays to one hit over the next five innings, retiring 16 of the final 17. He walked none and struck out nine in six innings.
Oakland defeats Boston in 10th inning comeback
BOSTON — Dan Johnson doubled home the winning run and Oakland stopped surging Boston.
The Red Sox had won four of five games and began the day with the best record in baseball but wasted a 4-2 lead and another strong performance by Curt Schilling.
Relief pitcher Jonathan Papelbon allowed a tying two-run homer by Travis Buck in the ninth
Oakland scored the winning run off Brendan Donnelly (0-1) on back-to-back doubles by Mike Piazza and Johnson. Justin Duchscherer (2-1) pitched the ninth and Huston Street worked the 10th for his sevent save.
Devil Rays defeat Twins, Cuddver leaves with injury
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Sidney Ponson pitched seven impressive innings and Michael Cuddyer drove in two runs for Minnesota before leaving with an injury.
Ponson (2-3) gave up five hits. Both of his wins this season have come against the Devil Rays.
The top of the sixth ended on a strange play when Cuddider lost his balance rounding second base on Justin Morneau's two-out single and did a forward roll before being out by third baseman Ty Wigginton. Cuddider left one inning later with a bruised back.
Minnesota's Torii Hunter doubled in the seventh, extending his career-high hitting streak to 16 games.
Rays starter Edwin Jackson (0-4) allowed six runs — four earned
and five hits in 1 1-3 innings.
Athletics calendar
Associated Press
WEDNESDAY
Softball vs. Wichita State,
5 p.m., Wichita
Baseball vs. Bethany College
6 p.m., Hoglund Ballpark
Softball vs. Wichita State,
7 p.m., Wichita
WEDNESDAY
FRIDAY
FRIDAY Baseball vs. Kansas State, 6:35 p.m., Manhattan
SATURDAY
Softball vs. Iowa State
2 p.m., Ames, Iowa
Baseball vs. Kansas State
3 p.m., Hoglund Ballpark
Track at Nebraska Invitational
SUNDAY
Softball vs. Iowa State,
Noon, Ames, Iowa
Baseball vs. Kansas State,
1 p.m., Hoglund Parkbark
SWIMMING AND DIVING Three newcomers join six recruits from fall season
The Kansas swimming and diving team added three more recruits Tuesday to an already loaded list of newcomers for the 2007-08 season.
The spring batch of signees consists of swimmers Joy Bunting and Lisa Dugopolski and diver Erin Mertz. Bunting, a high school senior from Greenley, Colo., is expected to make an impact right away for the Jayhawks.
"Joy is the best breaststroker we've ever recruited," coach Clark Campbell said in a press release released Tuesday.
Dlugopolski comes to Kansas from Mequon, Wis., where she earned All-state honors four years in a row as a swimmer for Homestead High School.
Mertz hails from Omaha, Neb, and dives for the Husker Stars Diving Club in Lincoln. She placed seventh on the three-meter board at junior nationals.
The trio, along with the six fall recruits, join a Kansas squad coming off strong finishes in last season's Big 12 and NCAA Championships.
Daniel Molina
Charlie Riedel/ASSOCIATED PRESS
》 KICKER
Kansas City Royals' Billy Butler connects for a single during his first major league at bat during a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday in Kansas City, Mo.
Royals fall to Angels 7-5
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The first three Angels singled on Zack Greinke's first seven pitches to load the bases. Greinke quickly went to 3-0 on Guerrero. Then after a called strike, the seven-time All-Star sent the next pitch sailing 435 feet over the fence in left-center for his
April 10 games under .500 three straight years, lost for the seventh time in nine games. Their 8-19 record is the worst in the majors.
fifth grand slam.
Charlie Riedel/ASSOCIATED PRESS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Vladimir Guerrero hit a first-inning grand slam and the surging Los Angeles Angels held on to beat the reeling Kansas City Royals 7-5 on Tuesday night for their 10th victory in 12 games.
The Royals, who became the first team ever to finish the month of
Guerrero, whose two-run double in the first inning Monday night led the Angels to a 3-1 win, has driven in 27 runs in 25 games. The Royals walked him intentionally the next two times he came up, each time with a runner in scoring position.
Los Angeles Angels' Gary Matthews beats the tag by Kansas City Royals third baseman Alex Gordon on a single by Orlando Cabrera during the first inning of the game on Tuesday in Kansas City, Mo.
Bartolo Colon (3-0) went five innings and gave up nine hits and five runs, with five strikeouts and one walk. His ERA went from 1.93 to 3.79. Francisco Rodriguez pitched a perfect ninth for his 10th save in 11 chances.
German's RBI single made it 6-5 in the bottom of the fourth.
Greinke (1-3) gave up six runs and 10 hits in five innings. He struck out three and walked two.
Billy Butler made his major league debut, starting in left field, and drew a big ovation when he singled in his first at-bat. He also singled in the eighth.
The Royals pulled to within 5-4 on Mark Teahen's three-run home run in the four-run third.
The Angels went up 5-0 when Matthews tripled and scored on Orlando Cabrera's double. Casey Kotchman, after Guerrero was intentionally walked for the second straight time, hit a sacrifice fly for a 6-4 lead in the fourth.
Just ahead of Teahen's homer, Esteban German singled home Tony Pena Jr., who walked leading off the third. It was the seventh consecutive inning the Royals had put their lead-off runner on base, but the first time one had scored.