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SPORTS / THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
MLB
Angels test new lineup on Royals
Bannister struggles to keep hitters from getting home runs
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TEMPE, Ariz. — Torii Hunter hit his first two homers of spring, Hideki Matsui connected for the first time and Mike Napoli for his fifth, and the Los Angeles
Angels beat a split squad of Kansas City Royals 8-6 on Wednesd y using what will likely be their opening day lineup.
"This is a lineup you'll see at some
Royals starter Bannister allowed
"I was pretty down on myself because of the way I pitched to Torii. I let Torii beat me."
point in the season," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "This is a lineup we're excited about. These next eight to 10 days we'll get a little idea of the continuity in the workings. If we don't juggle it from here it's a lineup that makes sense."
The lineup Wednesday had Erick Aybar batting leadoff hitter and Brandon Wood starting at third base, with Maier Izturis in a utility role.
Morales and Juan Rivera with Howie Kendrick, Napoli and Wood making up the bottom third of the order.
Angels right-hander Joel Pineiro allowed five hits and a walk in five scoreless innings, his fourth spring start.
BRIAN BANNISTER Royals pitcher
The loss of Chone Figgins to Seattle via free agency left the leadoff spot and third base open. Izturis figured to compete with Aybar for the leadoff spot and was a candidate to start at third.
Bobby Abreu hit second followed by Hunter, Matsui, Kendry
six hits and five runs over four innings with three walks and two strikeouts.
In his last outing against Milwaukee, Pineiro rebounded from a rough start to allow five hits and two earned runs over four innings.
"I was pretty down on myself because of the way I pitched to Torii."
Bannister said, "I let Torii beat me. I gave him a couple of pitches to hit and, obviously, he's swinging the bat really well and he didn't miss them. That was pretty disappointing the way I pitched to him.
"This was a good test for me. It's going to be their opening-day lineup," Bannister added.
In his previous start, Bannister threw four shutout innings and gave up only two hits to Arizona. He went 7-12 with a 4.73 ERA in 26 starts for the Royals in 2009 before was shut down in September with shoulder fatigue.
Hunter's second homer in the third inning traveled completely out of the ballpark in left-center field.
NFL
Rumors of McNabb trade are not true
Rams had offered a second- round draft pick and safety O希omighem Oatwe for McNabb. The source told The AP that the reports were unfounded.
ST. LOUIS — Reports that the St. Louis Rams are trying to acquire Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb are untrue, according to a person familiar with the team's plans.
Media outlets in Philadelphia on Wednesday reported the
Atowe is coming off shoulder surgery and ended the season on injured reserve. He would have to sign a tender offer before the Rams could trade him.
Associated Press
The lack of energy was never more apparent than midway through the third quarter, when Carlos Delfino lost the ball falling flat on his back in the lane. Iguodala took the outlet pass and found Dalembert for an easy dunk that gave this Sixers a 71-54 lead.
Bucks lose winning streak at home
NBA
BY COLIN FLY
Associated Press
MILWAUKEE — Rookie True Holiday had 15 points and seven assists, leading the Philadelphia 76ers to a 101-86 victory over the Bucks on Wednesday night that snapped Milwauee's longest home winning streak in six years at eight games.
Instead, Samuel Dalembert had 12 points and 10 rebounds, Willie Green scored 16 points and Andre Iguodala 14 as the Sixers poured it on for their third win in the last 16 games.
It was a dismal display for Milwaukee, which had won 15 of the last 17 to virtually assure a postseason berth for the first time since 2006.
Jerry Stackhouse scored 15 points and rookie Brandon
lennings added 12 for Milwaukee, but the Bucks shot 5 of 28 from 3-point range and led only once in the game, 3-0.
Milwaukee, in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, had last won
Deer" — the buzz phrase that's caught on here — because these Bucks looked exactly like the team that's won 38 percent of its games in the last five seasons and finished last in the Central Division each
But this squad that's made its reputation on tough defense and a grinding pace
It was a dismal display for Milwaukee,which had won 15 of the last 17 to virtually assure a postseason berth for the first time since 2006.
A few minutes later, Stackhouse blocked a shot that earned cheers from the crowd, but Charlie Bell immediately lost the ball and lguodala had a thunderous dunk that made it 81-63 to end the third.
time.
of play showed neither against the Sixers. Instead, the Bucks settled for long jump shots and allowed Philadelphia to score at will.
There was no need to "Fear the
utes in the previous four games.
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The Sixers, who were formally eliminated from the postseason after Monday's games, shot 52.6 percent from the field.
By that point, the Sixers, in the midst of their worst season in over a decade, could easily been up even more.
Jennings hit a 3-pointer to open the game, but Milwaukee never led again and missed its next 14 tries from beyond the arc.
NBA
Cavaliers continue in playoffs
Associated Press
BY BRETT MARTEL
NEW ORLEANS — LeBron James scored an efficient 38 points on 15 of 22 shooting to go with nine assists, and the Cleveland Cavaliers won their eighth straight game, 105-92 over the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday night.
J. J. Hickson scored 20 for the Cavs, who led by as many as 17 and never trailed after James's floater tied it at 10 in the first quarter. Delonte West added 15 points and Antawn Jamison had 11 points and 11 rebounds as Cleveland won its 27th straight over a team with a losing record.
Marcus Thornton scored 20 points and Darren Collison added 17 for the Hornets, who will be eliminated from the playoffs if Portland wins on Thursday. David West added 16 points, while Chris Paul struggled in his second game back from a left knee injury, finishing with five points and seven assists in 32 minutes.
Cleveland opened up a 17-point lead with a dominant third quarter, a stretch during which James assumed the role of play-maker.
scoring only five of his points but dishing out five assists.
Hickson scored 11 points in the quarter on five layups, one of which he converted into a three-point play. Jamison scored nine points during the period and Mo Williams' tough fade over Collison made it 81-64 with 2:32 left in the quarter.
Still trailing by 17 midway through the final period, the Hornets got the lead down to 96-86 with 4:22 left, then James quickly squashed any notion of a comeback.
He hit a tough left-handed driving floater off the glass, and after Paul's missed 3, James drew a foul and hit both free throws.
The Cavs shot 57.1 percent, helped by James' good shooting as well as Hickson going 9 of 11 and Delonte West going 7 of 11. Cleveland outscored New Orleans 58-36 inside and also outrebounded New Orleans 40-37.
Cleveland (57-15), which currently holds the best overall record in the NBA, also improved to a league-best 26-11 away from home with another road game coming up at San Antonio on Friday night.
James scored 12 points in the first quarter on an array of jumpers and acrobatic driving floaters, including one while his momentum was angling away from the basket. There were none of his signature slam dunks, but he set up two jams by Anderson Varejao, one on a no-look pass and another after he intercepted Paul's pass and led the break the other way.
Delonte West scored seven points in the first couple minutes of the second quarter as the Cavaliers' lead grew to 10. The Hornets kept the game competitive in the first half though, with Thornton scoring nine during the second quarter after being shut out by the tough defense of Anthony Parker in the first 12 minutes.
New Orleans tied it at 44 when Paul found West for a dunk, but then Cleveland surged ahead for good.
James then hit a short jumper and dunked an alley-oop feed from Williams, then later hit a tough driving floater over James Posey and off the glass after beating Thornton on the dribble.
That gave the Cavs a 52-48 lead that stuck until halftime.
Bryant leads team to another victory
NBA
SAN ANTONIO — Kobe Bryant scored 24 points and the Los
Angeles Lakers extended their winning streak to seven games with a 92-83 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night.
It was Bryant who put the Spurs away for good with 10 in
the fourth quarter.
The Lakers eased out of San Antonio with a come-from-behind win to start a five-game road trip.
Associated Press
OAKLEY || BURBERRY || RAY BAN || COACH || GUCCI || KATE SPADE || CALVIN KLEIN || GUESS || OGI
NHL
Red Wings could go to 19th postseason
DETROIT — Valteri Filppula scored with 6:49 left and added an empty-net goal, lifting the Detroit Red Wings to a 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night.
The Red Wings have been playing their best hockey during their rebuilding season, improving their chances of making it to a 19th straight postseason and extending the longest such streak in sports.
Zetterberg, who has been Detroit's best player lately, scored his 23rd goal 26 seconds into the second period and Bertuzzi was credited with a goal that went off his leg and stood after review at the 4:35 mark of the second.
St. Louis is 10 points behind Detroit and there are two teams Calgary and Dallas — between the Central Division teams.
Kariya got the Blues off to a good start, splitting defenseman with speed and flicking a shot between Howard's pads 5:39 into the game.
Conklin made some saves to keep the Blues in the game and got a break with Pavel Datsyuk's breakaway shot went just above the net, then McClement made it 2-all less than a minute later.
Henrik Zetterberg and Todd Bertuzzi scored for the Red Wings, 9-2-1 since the Olympic break. Paul Kariya put St. Louis ahead in the first and Jay McClement made it 2-all early in the third.
Brian Rafalski set up the goahead goal by simply flicking a shot from center ice and it bounced off Conklin. Filppula swooped in to get the puck and scored on a backhand.
NOTES: Conklin played for Detroit last season as a backup, but wasn't re-signed to pave the way for Howard, who has emerged as a Rookie of the Year contender. .. During the first intermission, boxers Andre Dirrell and Arthur Abraham were introduced to promote their Super Six World Boxing Classic matchup on Saturday at Joe Louis Arena.
Associated Press
The Red Wings padded their lead to four points over Calgary for the last spot in the Western Conference playoffs with their sixth win in seven games. St. Louis moved a step closer toward being eliminated from the race with its fourth loss in six games.
Detroit's Jimmy Howard made 30 saves, and former Red Wing Ty Conklin stopped 20 shots.
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