By BRIAN SANDALOW

Associated Press

 

CHICAGO — Mike Leake pitched just a little better than former teammate Travis Wood and helped the Cincinnati Reds extend their dominance of the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

Leake combined with Aroldis Chapman on a 3-hitter and Todd Frazier hit a tie-breaking home run against Wood in the seventh inning, leading the Reds past the Cubs 2-1 Wednesday for their record 12th straight win at Wrigley Field.

Leake (6-3) won for the fourth time in five decisions, allowing only Nate Schierholtz’s second-inning home run into the right-field bleachers, his eighth of the season. The Cincinnati starter gave up one run and three hits while striking out six over eight innings.

Facing Wood, Leake said, is “fun, definitely, and frustrating at the same time.

“You want him to do well and you want yourself to do well. Today we both did really well, so you can’t complain.”

Wood (5-5) gave up two runs and four hits in seven innings, his third loss in four decisions. He fell to 0-3 with a 4.65 ERA in five starts against the Reds, who traded him to the Cubs on Dec. 23, 2011, for reliever Sean Marshall.

“Felt good out there today, was locating pretty well and keeping them off balance,” Wood said. “Leake was doing the same; he had an outstanding game today.”

The Reds usually do quite well against the Cubs, especially at Wrigley Field.

Cincinnati is 10-2 overall against the Cubs this season and 25-6 dating to Sept. 13, 2011. Leake improved to 6-2 with a 3.24 ERA in 13 career starts against Chicago.

The previous record for consecutive wins by a visitor at Wrigley was 10, by the St. Louis Cardinals (1943-44) and matched by the New York Giants (1950-51) and Montreal Expos (1982-83), according to STATS.

Cincinnati’s Dusty Baker, who managed the Cubs from 2003-06, didn’t have an explanation for the streak at Wrigley.

“I don’t know, man,” Baker said. “Just feel fortunate that it happens when it happens.”

Cesar Izturis got the Reds’ first hit off Wood with an infield single in the fifth and Cincinnati tied the score in the sixth when Shin-Soo Choo doubled and scored on Brandon Phillips’ 2-out single.

Leake retired 12 consecutive batters before Darwin Barney singled with one out in the eighth. By then, Frazier had hit his eighth homer, sending a 1-0 pitch through a wind and into the left-field bleachers, giving the Reds a 2-1 lead.

Frazier has homered in consecutive games since Baker gave him the day off Monday to “study and watch” what was happening.

Chapman struck out two in a perfect ninth for his 17th save in 19 chances to give Cincinnati its third straight win since losing two out of three last weekend to first-place St. Louis.

The Cubs have lost eight out of 10 since a 5-game winning streak and fell to a season-worst 13 games below .500. In their last five losses, they’ve scored a combined seven runs.

“It’s a broken record,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. “Woody’s just pitched another great game and has nothing to show for it.”

Unfortunately for the Cubs, that’s usually how it goes for them against the Reds at Wrigley.

NOTES: Chicago’s Starlin Castro went 0-for-3 and is in a 4-for-48 slide (.083). He hit in the No. 6 slot for only the second time in his career. … Choo, normally the Reds’ leadoff hitter, was second in the batting order while Derrick Robinson was first. Choo entered 0-for-6 with four strikeouts against Wood. … The Cubs placed RHP Zach Putnam on the 15-day DL and recalled LHP Brooks Raley from Triple-A Iowa. … When asked if LHP Tony Cingrani would stay in the Cincinnati rotation, Baker replied “Who’s spot is he going to take?” Cingrani gave up two earned runs in seven innings Tuesday but the Reds hope Johnny Cueto will be able to return Sunday against Milwaukee. … Alfonso Soriano pinch-hit and had a game-ending groundout. … Today’s pitching matchup is Cincinnati’s Mat Latos (6-0, 2.87) against the Cubs’ Jeff Samardzija (3-7, 3.18).

Jays down Wildcats in shortened ACME game

DELPHOS — The St. John’s ACME baseball team was the beneficiary of lightning Monday night at Wildcat Field, downing Jefferson 8-4 in a 6-inning contest called by the weather.

Actually, the Jays (1-1) were leading 8-7 in the bottom of the seventh with the Wildcats (0-3) having runners on first and third with one down when lightning was spotted.

When the game was called, the score reverts to the score in the last completed inning, the sixth, with the Jays up 8-4.

Weisenburger Builders Open - Country Acres Golf Course

Tuesday’s Results

Par 72

BOYS 12-13:

1. Jared Hernandez 44; 2. Jacob Black 48; 3. Ryan Moody 50; 4. Christian Nartker 52; 5. Drew Bullock 53; 6. Marcus McGee 57.

BOYS 14-15: 1. Grant Ricketts 40-37-77; 2. James Riepenhoff 40-39-79; 3. Joshah Rager 40-43-83; 4. Parker Frey 45-41-86 and Ian Hasting 45-41-86; 5. Collin Hennon 43-44-87; 6. Jacob Good 41-48-89, Adam Vieira 44-45-89 and Westin Young 45-44-89; 7. Jeffrey Knueve 48-42-90; 8. Nathan Meyers 46-47-93 and Sam Reed 43-50-93; 9. Sam Meredith 51-48-99; 10. Collin Nartker 45-55-100; 11. Josh Klausing 51-57-108; 12. Ian Friesner 52-57-109; 13. Ricky Carroll 56-55-111; 14. Sean Houston 57-61-118.

BOYS 16-18: 1. Colin Burke 39-41-80; 2. Brady Garver 37-44-81; 3. Caleb Meadows 38-43-81 (Garver defeated Meadowns in a 3-hole playoff for 2nd place); 4. Carter Bowman 39-43-82; 5. Evan Hall 41-42-83 and Austin Lammers 44-39-83; 6. Wesley Markward 41-43-84, Evan Nartker 44-40-84, Samuel Slusher 43-41-84 and Drew Wayman 41-43-84; 7. Bobby Crow 43-42-85; 8. Chance Campbell 44-43-87; 9. Zach Erhart 39-49-88, Joseph Slusher 45-43-88 and Rich Streicher 45-43-88; 10. Trent Cutlip 45-44-89; 11. Jared Fuka 47-44-91; 12. James Harrod 48-47-95; 13. David Jenkins 46-50-96; 14. Brandon Pedersen 51-49-100; 15. Evan Recker 52-60-112; 16. Alex Britton WD.

GIRLS 15 & UNDER: 1. Abigail Vieira 69.

GIRLS 16-18: 1. Emily Knouff 40-45-85; 2. Mikenna Klinger 56-51-107; 3. Haleigh Jordan 58-49-107 (Klinger defeated Jordan in playoff for 2nd place); 4. Jennifer Mitchell 52-57-109; 5. Sara Rex 59-66-125.

——-

Lima Junior Golf Association - McDonald’s Junior Series

Eagles Aerie #370 Classic - Hidden Creek Golf Club

Thursday’s Tee Times (as of 7 p.m. Tuesday)

FIRST HOLE

Boys 16-18

Tee Time Name(s)

8 a.m. Israel Whitman, Trent Cutlip, Rich Streicher

8:08 a.m. Slade Downing, James Harrod, David Jenkins

8:16 a.m. Michael Omlor, Brandon Pedersen, Xavier Francis

8:24 a.m. Carter Bowman, Alex Britton, Bobby Crow

8:32 a.m. Mitchell Youngpeter, Samuel Slusher, Kaleb Kuhn, Zach Erhart

8:40 a.m. Connor English, Joseph Slusher, John Copella, Chance Campbell

8:48 a.m. Wesley Markward, Caleb Meadows, Drew Wayman, John Burke

8:56 a.m.

Boys 14-15

9:04 a.m. Ian Hasting, Brad Gottemoeller, James Riepenhoff

9:12 a.m. Judah Whitman, Adam Vieira, Grant Ricketts, Collin Nartker

9:20 a.m. Sean Houston, Josh Klausing, Jake Shivley, Sam Meredith

9:28 a.m. Parker Frey, Spencer Stubbs, Ricky Carroll, Joshah Rager

9:36 a.m.

Girls 16-18

9:44 a.m. Elizabeth Selover, Mikenna Klinger, Kelsey Koesters, Emily Knouff

9:52 a.m. Quinn High, Haleigh Jordan, Jennifer Mitchell, Sara Rex

10 a.m.

TENTH HOLE

Boys 12-13

8 a.m. Ryan Moody, Christian Nartker, Drew Bullock

8:08 a.m. Jacob Black, Marcus McGee, Jared Hernandez

Girls 15 & Under

8:16 a.m. Mackenzie Winters (D 15U), Ariel Schantz, Lexie Evans, Abigail Vieira

8:24 a.m.

8:32 a.m.

8:40 a.m.

8:48 a.m.

8:56 a.m.

9:04 a.m.

9:12 a.m.

9:20 a.m.

9:28 a.m.

9:36 a.m.

9:44 a.m.

9:52 a.m.

10 a.m.

10:08 a.m.

10:16 a.m.

10:24 a.m.

10:32 a.m.

10:40 a.m.

10:48 a.m.

10:56 a.m.

11:04 a.m.

11:12 a.m. Team #41

11:20 a.m. Team #42

11:28 a.m. Team #43

11:36 a.m. Team #44

11:44 a.m. Team #45

11:52 a.m. Team #46

Noon Team #47

12:08 p.m. Team #48

12:16 p.m. Team #49

The Associated Press

National League

East Division

W L Pct GB

Atlanta 39 25 .609 —

Washington 31 31 .500 7

Philadelphia 31 34 .477 8 1/2

New York 23 36 .390 13 1/2

Miami 19 45 .297 20

Central Division

W L Pct GB

St. Louis 42 22 .656 —

Cincinnati 38 26 .594 4

Pittsburgh 38 26 .594 4

Chicago 25 36 .410 15 1/2

Milwaukee 26 38 .406 16

West Division

W L Pct GB

Arizona 36 28 .563 —

Colorado 34 30 .531 2

San Francisco 33 30 .524 2 1/2

San Diego 30 34 .469 6

Los Angeles 27 36 .429 8 1/2

———

Tuesday’s Results

Pittsburgh 8, San Francisco 2

Miami 5, Milwaukee 4

St. Louis 9, N.Y. Mets 2

Minnesota 3, Philadelphia 2

Cincinnati at Chicago Cubs, 8:05 p.m.

Washington at Colorado, 8:40 p.m.

Arizona at L.A. Dodgers, 10:10 p.m.

Atlanta at San Diego, 10:10 p.m.

Today’s Games

Cincinnati (Leake 5-3) at Chicago Cubs (T.Wood 5-4), 2:20 p.m.

Atlanta (Maholm 7-4) at San Diego (Volquez 4-5), 3:40 p.m.

San Francisco (Zito 4-4) at Pittsburgh (Liriano 4-2), 7:05 p.m.

Milwaukee (Figaro 0-0) at Miami (Slowey 2-5), 7:10 p.m.

St. Louis (S.Miller 7-3) at N.Y. Mets (Gee 4-6), 7:10 p.m.

Philadelphia (Cloyd 2-2) at Minnesota (Pelfrey 3-6), 8:10 p.m.

Washington (Ohlendorf 0-0) at Colorado (J.De La Rosa 7-3), 8:40 p.m.

Arizona (Corbin 9-0) at L.A. Dodgers (Ryu 6-2), 10:10 p.m.

Thursday’s Games

St. Louis at N.Y. Mets, 1:10 p.m.

Cincinnati at Chicago Cubs, 2:20 p.m.

Washington at Colorado, 3:10 p.m.

San Francisco at Pittsburgh, 7:05 p.m.

Philadelphia at Minnesota, 8:10 p.m.

American League

East Division

W L Pct GB

Boston 40 26 .606 —

New York 37 26 .587 1 1/2

Baltimore 37 28 .569 2 1/2

Tampa Bay 35 29 .547 4

Toronto 27 36 .429 11 1/2

Central Division

W L Pct GB

Detroit 35 27 .565 —

Cleveland 30 33 .476 5 1/2

Kansas City 29 32 .475 5 1/2

Minnesota 28 33 .459 6 1/2

Chicago 28 34 .452 7

West Division

W L Pct GB

Texas 38 25 .603 —

Oakland 38 27 .585 1

Seattle 28 37 .431 11

Los Angeles 27 38 .415 12

Houston 22 43 .338 17

———

Tuesday’s Results

Baltimore 3, L.A. Angels 2

Tampa Bay 8, Boston 3

Cleveland at Texas, 8:05 p.m.

Minnesota 3, Philadelphia 2

Detroit at Kansas City, 8:10 p.m.

Toronto at Chicago White Sox, 8:10 p.m.

N.Y. Yankees at Oakland, 10:05 p.m.

Houston at Seattle, 10:10 p.m.

Today’s Games

L.A. Angels (Williams 4-2) at Baltimore (Hammel 7-4), 12:35 p.m.

Detroit (Verlander 8-4) at Kansas City (Shields 2-6), 2:10 p.m.

Boston (Aceves 2-1) at Tampa Bay (Archer 1-1), 7:10 p.m.

Cleveland (U.Jimenez 4-4) at Texas (Tepesch 3-5), 8:05 p.m.

Philadelphia (Cloyd 2-2) at Minnesota (Pelfrey 3-6), 8:10 p.m.

Toronto (Rogers 1-2) at Chicago White Sox (Sale 5-4), 8:10 p.m.

N.Y. Yankees (P.Hughes 3-4) at Oakland (Straily 3-2), 10:05 p.m.

Houston (Lyles 3-1) at Seattle (Bonderman 1-1), 10:10 p.m.

Thursday’s Games

N.Y. Yankees at Oakland, 3:35 p.m.

Boston at Baltimore, 7:05 p.m.

Kansas City at Tampa Bay, 7:10 p.m.

Toronto at Texas, 8:05 p.m.

Philadelphia at Minnesota, 8:10 p.m.

By DOUG FERGUSON

The Associated Press

 

ARDMORE, Pa. — The photo of Ben Hogan hitting his 1-iron into the 18th green at Merion in the 1950 U.S. Open is among the most famous in golf history, capturing the pure swing of one of the greatest players when the pressure of a major championship was at its peak.

Instead of marveling at the swing, Tiger Woods thought more about the results.

“That was to get into a playoff,” Woods said Tuesday, sounding more like a golf historian than the No. 1 player in the game. “Got about 40 feet and still had some work to do. It’s a great photo. But it would have been an all right photo if he didn’t win. He still had to go out and win it the next day.”

Hogan managed to lag the long putt to about 4 feet and quickly knocked that in for his par to join a 3-way playoff, which he won the next day over Lloyd Mangrum and Tom Fazio. Of his four U.S. Open titles, that meant the most to Hogan because he proved he could win just 16 months after a horrific car accident that nearly killed him. On battered legs, Hogan had to play the 36-hole final, followed by the 18-hole playoff.

“Knowing the fact that he went through the accident and then came out here and played 36 and 18, that’s awfully impressive,” Woods said.

In some small way, Woods can relate.

Five years ago, Woods tried to play the U.S. Open with the ligaments shredded in his left knee and a double stress fracture in his lower left leg. The USGA published a book called “Great Moments of the U.S. Open” and the photo it selected for the cover showed Woods arching his back and pumping his fists after making a 12-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole at Torrey Pines to get into a playoff.

It wouldn’t have been much of a photo if he missed.

Woods had to go 91 holes that week. He had to make another birdie on the 18th hole of the playoff to go extra holes before finally beating Rocco Mediate.

“I think there was a lot of people pulling for Tiger,” said Rory McIlroy, who was 19 at the time, a rookie on the European Tour who failed to qualify for the U.S. Open. “He was playing on a broken leg pretty much, so I was definitely pulling for Tiger. It was probably one of the best performances golf has ever seen, if not sport in general.”

Hard as it might have been to believe that day, it also was the last major Woods won.

He had one more chance at a major after his season-ending knee surgery, losing a 2-shot lead to Y.E. Yang in the 2009 PGA Championship. After two darks years brought on by the collapse of his marriage and more injuries to his left leg, he had at least a share of the 36-hole lead in two majors last year and an outside shot at the Masters in April going into the final round.

Majors don’t come as easily as they once seemed to for Woods, though he never looked at them that way.

“It wasn’t ever easy,” he explained. “I felt it was still difficult because the major of the majors, three of the four always rotated. It was always on a new site each and every year. Augusta was the only one you could rely on from past experiences. A lot of majors that I won were on either the first or second time I’d ever seen it.”

Woods won four majors on courses he had never played — Medinah for the 1999 PGA Championship, Valhalla for the PGA Championship the following year, Bethpage Black in the 2002 U.S. Open and Royal Liverpool for the 2006 British Open.

Merion is new not only to him, but just about everyone.

It last hosted a U.S. Open in 1981, when David Graham putted for birdie on every hole and closed with a 67. Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk and Steve Stricker played Merion but they were all college kids at the 1989 U.S. Amateur. A few others competed in the 2005 U.S. Amateur or the 2009 Walker Cup.

But never at a U.S. Open.

“I don’t remember much about it from that long ago,” Stricker said. “But I remember at least that it was a great, old course with a lot of history to it, one that I enjoyed playing back in ‘89 and no different than today. It’s a great test.”

It figures to be a different test this week.

For all the history of Merion, this week seems like a recurrence of the troublesome weather that has followed the PGA Tour around this season. The course has received some five inches of rain since Friday, so much that it was closed for practice one day on the weekend and play was stopped three times on Monday.

It was packed under mostly sunny skies Tuesday in what amounted to a crash course for so many players with the start of the U.S. Open only two days away.

“Played the golf course last Wednesday, which has proved kind of invaluable now,” Graeme McDowell said. “I flew in yesterday with the intention of playing 18 holes late last night but that didn’t happen. So I’m kind of adjusting my plan here at the minute. I’m going to play nine holes this afternoon and nine holes tomorrow.”

Phil Mickelson spent two days at Merion last week, which also proved invaluable. He left town Monday for San Diego to practice in California’s dry weather, though he was planning on being home today, anyway, to watch his oldest daughter speak at her eighth-grade graduation ceremony.

Woods stopped at Merion on the way to the Memorial and wondered how much he got out of that practice round. It rained practically the entire time, so the ball wasn’t flying very far in the air or when it hit the ground. Woods was trying to figure out how much the ball would run along the canted fairways in dry conditions.

Now, he might not find out.