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SAN FRANCISCO -- As good as it felt to shut out the World Series champions for eight innings, getting a pair of hits against two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum really made Mike Leakes day. Saints #77 Jersey . Leake held the struggling San Francisco hitters in check and started two rallies with his bat as the Cincinnati Reds gave Lincecum one of his worst beatings ever in a 10-2 victory over the Giants on Saturday. "I take pride in my hitting," Leake said. "I dont like to get out. Its more fun to get hits than it is to pitch good sometimes. ... Anytime Im squaring balls up, its pretty fun." Brandon Phillips hit a two-run double and scored twice and Torontos Joey Votto knocked the San Francisco ace out with an RBI double in the fifth inning to give the Reds their second win in three games in San Francisco. Lincecum (5-5) matched his career worst by allowing seven runs in four-plus innings, marking the first time since his rookie year in 2007 that he had allowed seven earned runs in a game. "I was just kind of flying all over the place," Lincecum said. "I didnt have any command of the zone at all. To me, thats just kind of going back to the drawing board and getting my mechanics straight." With the Giants struggling to generate any offence of late, that cushion proved to be more than enough for Leake (6-2), who improved to 3-0 with a 1.93 earned-run average in four starts since a brief stint back in the minors. "Mainly my head is just back on straight a little bit," Leake said. "I think I lost it there for a little." Leake allowed four hits -- including an infield popup by Eli Whiteside that third baseman Scott Rolen lost for a single -- and struck out a career-high eight. Leake had a 21.21 ERA in two previous outings against the Giants, including giving up six runs while retiring one batter in a relief outing in his final appearance of the season last August. Leake also started a pair of rallies at the plate against Lincecum. Leake doubled to lead a the two-run third inning when the Reds scored on a groundout by Jay Bruce and a wild pitch by Lincecum to make it 3-0. Leake then singled to start the four-run fifth. Drew Stubbs followed with a walk and both players scored on Phillips double to left field. Vottos RBI double ended Lincecums briefest outing of the season and Rolen added a sacrifice fly to make it 7-0. "That was a rare outing by Lincecum," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "Thats a two-time Cy Young award winner. Hes one of the best in the business. He wasnt as sharp today as he usually is." Lincecum allowed seven hits and walked four and struck out a career-low one batter. He struggled with his control all afternoon, throwing 37 balls compared to 36 strikes, and had two wild pitches. He generated only two swings and misses all day -- both to Stubbs, who struck to open the game. That was the high point of the game for Lincecum who allowed an RBI single to Ryan Hanigan in the second inning, the two runs in the third and four runs in the fifth. Lincecum now has a 7.66 ERA in four starts since throwing 133 pitches in a shutout victory against Oakland last month. "More than anything his fastball commands off," manager Bruce Bochy said. "It was an off day for Timmy, I dont know how else to tell you, especially with his command. Thats a good hitting ballclub and youre going to pay for it if youre off. Theres not much else to it, really. He feels good, hes healthy. Hes just having trouble getting the ball where he wants." The Reds, who went just 2-8 on their last road trip, have matched that total in three games in San Francisco. The pitching has had a big part in that with Johnny Cueto and two relievers combining on a 3-0 shutout Thursday night before Leakes strong start. Pat Burrell broke up the shutout with a two-run homer in the ninth off Carlos Fisher -- his first longball in 96 at-bats. Cincinnati has gone a season-high four games without a home run, winning two of them. Notes: Leake leads Reds pitchers with seven hits. ... Lincecum allowed seven runs, but only three earned runs, on May 16 against Colorado and seven earned runs to Toronto on June 13, 2007. ... The Giants signed INF Bill Hall to replace injured 2B Freddy Sanchez. Hall entered the game in the fifth inning and walked in his first plate appearance for San Francisco. ... The Reds are the only NL team that Lincecum has not beaten, excluding the Giants. He is 0-1 in three starts against Cincinnati. Morten Andersen Saints Jersey . Jones had to work hard against Korean skip Kim Jisun and didnt hold a lead until the seventh end. Jones, lead Dawn McEwen, second Jill Officer and third Kaitlyn Lawes were 8-0 going into the game and had already clinched a berth in the semifinals. Saints #3 Jersey . -- Garret Sparks made 31 saves as the Toronto Marlies beat the Grand Rapids Griffins 3-1 in American Hockey League play Tuesday.ARDMORE, Pa. -- The affection was genuine. Even better was beating Jack Nicklaus in a playoff. So when Lee Trevino got his hands on that U.S. Open trophy in 1971, the guy who never lacked for one-liners gushed, "I love Merion, and I dont even know her last name." For this generation of stars, Merion is more like a blind date. No other course with four U.S. Opens had to wait such a long time -- 32 years -- for another chance to test the worlds best players. Even with Tiger Woods back to No. 1 and winning at a ridiculous rate, so much of the talk at this major championship has been about Merion. For years, it was considered too small to handle such a big tournament and the big hitters with their modern equipment. And with soft greens from more than 6 inches of rain in the last week, the question is whether the course will yield the kind of scores rarely seen at the toughest test in golf. On Thursday, the mystery of Merion will start to unfold. "Its been how long, 32 years? And with all the technology since then?" Steve Stricker said as he headed to the first tee Wednesday for one last practice round. "Someone asked me the other day about someone shooting a 62. And what I wanted to say was, Youre crazy. But you just dont know. We dont know whats going to happen. And in a way, thats kind of cool." Not so cool was the weather expected for the opening round. Merion already took a beating last Friday when more than 3 inches of rain sent water over the edges of some bunkers and left small streams on fairways and greens. More rain on Monday caused the course to be closed three times. The forecast called for increasing clouds, gusts and showers Thursday morning, with stronger storms likely to arrive around noon. "Sure, we want it firm and fast," USGA vice-president Thomas OToole said Wednesday. "We happen to play a sport thats played outdoors. We received significant rain over the last week, and some tell us that well have even more significant rain tomorrow. So its not a perfect world. Its not a perfect game. But we take what were dealt with." Whether a golf course is big or small, soft greens typically are a recipe for low scores. Then again, Merion is not a typical golf course. It measures 6,996 yards on the scorecard -- the shortest of any major championship in nine years -- and has a stretch of seven holes in the middle that are short even by yesterdays standards. Compare those holes with the scorecard from when Ben Hogan won the 1950 U.S. Open at Merion, and four of those holes were actually longer by a few yards in Hogans day. Players typically reach for the wedge to chip out of the rough around the greens at the U.S. Open. At Merion, they could be hitting wedge into the green for their second shot on at least six holes. Thats what has caused all the clamour about low scores. And with the rain, its reminiscent of how Congressional was vulnerable two years ago, when Rory McIlroy shattered U.S. Open scoring records at 16-under 268. "Ive been reading about how many scoring records are going to be broken," Nick Watney said. "Ive been around here once. And I think thats insane. Its funny to me. People look at the yardage and think its going to be easy. Saints #13 Jersey. Even if its soft, the greens are sloped. The rough is thick. OK, well have wedges into some of the greens, but that doesnt mean you make birdie on all those holes. Theres enough tough holes to counteract that." Even so, the winning score has gone down in each of the four previous U.S. Opens at Merion, from Olin Dutra at 13-over par in 1934 to David Graham winning at 7-under in 1981, the last time this major championship was here. "Where did David Graham shoot 7-under? From there?" Nick Watney asked as he pointed the end of his driver to a spot some 30 yards from where he was standing. "Because he didnt do it from here." Watney was standing in the middle of the putting green. He took three steps to his right and was standing on the 14th tee. As an example of longer holes being made more difficult, a new tee on the 464-yard hole is where members practice putting. The biggest fear with rain on the horizon is what will happen the rest of the week. The forecast is reasonable after Thursday, but in soft conditions, balls start to pick up clumps of mud as the sun starts to dry the course. And while players often are allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls in the fairway in muddy conditions on the PGA Tour, they dont do that at the U.S. Open. Remember, the USGA famously referred to the local rule as "lift, clean and cheat." "We wouldnt be adopting that rule this week," OToole said. It all begins with Cliff Kresge hitting the opening shot of the 113th U.S. Open at 6:45 a.m. Thursday -- weather permitting, of course. Woods, McIlroy and Masters champion Adam Scott play Thursday afternoon in the power grouping of Nos. 1, 2 and 3 in the world. Sergio Garcia plays on the opposite side of the draw, teeing off Thursday morning. So does Phil Mickelson, who left Philadelphia on Monday when the weather was bad to practice in San Diego. He planned on being home, anyway, so he could watch his oldest daughter graduate from the eighth-grade. Mickelson was scheduled to arrive about 4:15 a.m. Thursday, just three hours before his tee time. Stricker called Merion the "longest short course Ive ever played." Graeme McDowell is another guy who isnt buying into the fear over low scoring. "Everyone is saying that its going to be 62s and 63s on this golf course, which I kind of disagree with at the minute," McDowell said. "I think 10 or 11 of these golf holes are as tough as any U.S. Open Ive seen." The lowest score in major championship history is 63, and it has happened only four times in the U.S. Open -- Johnny Miller at Oakmont in 1973 on a soggy course, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf on the same day at Baltusrol in 1980 during a wet week, and Vijay Singh on a rain-softened course at Olympia Fields in 2003. "Youve got more birdie opportunities than ever," Ernie Els said. "Im playing my 21st U.S. Open, so Ive seen a lot of trouble out there. But this is one where you can get on a run. You can make some 3s. Thats not a number thats really familiar in the U.S. Open. But as I say, you start missing shots, the rough is as bad as Ive ever seen it." ' ' ' |
