Rockies rough up Giants, Lincecum

DENVER (AP) - Carlos Gonzalez tripled twice, drove in four runs and scored three times Wednesday night, leading the Colorado Rockies to a wild 17-8 win over Tim Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants that recalled the pre-humidor days at Coors Field.

Smith leads Hornets past Kings

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Monty Williams decided it was time to loosen the reins on Jason Smith. By the looks of things, the Hornets coach won't be reeling the blossoming 7-footer back in any time soon.

All players in majors to wear No. 42 Sunday

NEW YORK (AP) - Major League Baseball will mark the 65th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's debut by again having all players wear his No. 42 on Sunday. Robinson broke baseball's color barrier when he played for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. There will be pregame ceremonies at big league ballparks where games are played Sunday, and ...

Kinsler, Texas strike $75M, 5-year deal

Twins RHP Baker to miss season with elbow injury

Weiner: Steroids shouldn't keep players from Hall

Giants catcher Posey has shingles

Sports News Brief

TENNIS SERENA WILLIAMS ON US FED CUP TEAM; VENUS IS NOT: WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) - Serena Williams is on the U.S. Fed Cup roster for matches against Ukraine on April 21-22, but her sister Venus is not. "She just played Miami and Charleston, so she's trying to gauge now her recovery, how much she can play," U.S. Fed Cup captain Mary Joe ...

SKI REPORTS

Royals Broxton wild as A's rally for win in 12

Blues will start Halak in goal vs Sharks

Stanford's football coordinators work to replace starters

NCAA puts Baylor basketball on 3 years' probation for calls

WACO, Texas (AP) - The NCAA put Baylor on three years of probation Wednesday after an investigation turned up hundreds of impermissible telephone calls and text messages sent to prep recruits by coaches and assistants on the basketball teams. The violations were considered to be major infractions, and they were announced less than a week after the Lady Bears won the national ...

NBA Capsules

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Chris Paul scored 31 points, including the game-winning shot on a layup with 8.8 seconds left, lifting the Los Angeles Clippers to a 100-98 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night that kept them in position for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Duffy leads Royals past Athletics

OAKLAND (AP) - Danny Duffy pitched six sharp innings and the Kansas City Royals beat the Oakland Athletics 3-0 in a rain-shortened game on Tuesday night.

NBA capsules

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Stephen Curry had 22 points and eight assists, Andrew Bogut broke out with the best performance of his injury-saddled season and the Golden State Warriors eliminated the Denver Nuggets with a 92-88 victory in Game 6 on Thursday.

NHL capsules

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Alex Ovechkin's franchise-record 31st career playoff goal got the Capitals started before less-heralded teammates Marcus Johansson and Jason Chimera scored 46 seconds apart, and Washington beat the New York Rangers 3-1 Thursday night in Game 1 of their first-round series.

Sports news briefs

HORSERACING

Boyle, Marleau lift Sharks to 3-1 win over Canucks

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) - Dan Boyle and Patrick Marleau scored in the third period for the San Jose Sharks, who rallied to beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-1 on Wednesday night in the first-round Western Conference series opener. Boyle and Logan Couture both had a goal and an assist, and Marleau pushed San Jose's lead to 3-1. Antti Niemi made 28 saves for the Sharks, who were outshot 30-28. Kevin Bieksa scored ...

NHL capsules

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pascal Dupuis scored twice, Marc-Andre Fleury made 26 saves, and the top-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins opened the playoffs with a 5-0 romp over the New York Islanders on Wednesday night.

Giants rally again, beat Diamondbacks 9-6

PHOENIX (AP) - Brandon Belt hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning and the San Francisco Giants rallied against Arizona's bullpen for the third straight game, beating the Diamondbacks 9-6 Wednesday night to complete a three-game sweep. Belt hit a two-run single off Brad Ziegler in the opener and Pablo Sandoval hit a two-run homer off Arizona closer J.J. Putz on Tuesday. Belt finished off the series of comebacks with his ...

Cespedes' gaffe costs A's in 5-4 loss to Angels

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Oakland Athletics slugger Yoenis Cespedes didn't have a problem beating Hank Conger's throw to second in the ninth inning.

NBA capsules

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - James Harden scored 31 points and sank seven 3-pointers while fighting through flu-like symptoms, and the Houston Rockets beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 107-100 Wednesday night to pull within 3-2 in their first-round playoff series.

Nuggets, Warriors ready for physical Game 6

OAKLAND (AP) - Kicks in the ankles. Forearms to the throat. Elbows at the head. Illegal screens. Hard shoves. Bloody lips. Puffy eyes. Body bruises. Some even done by "hit men." Denver Nuggets coach George Karl thought the reaction to his team's Game 5 win over the Warriors sounded like a "different movie than I'm watching." Golden State's Mark Jackson defended his accusations of dirty play Wednesday, and players on both sides practically ...

Guerrero likes chances of giving Mayweather loss

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Floyd Mayweather Jr. admitted this week what many have long suspected - that he hand picks every opponent who enters the ring with him. He also decides how much they get paid and what the contract details will be. So Robert Guerrero was somewhat prepared when Mayweather picked him to be the opponent for his first fight in a year Saturday night at the MGM Grand hotel. What ...

Damian Lillard is NBA Rookie of the Year

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - It's unanimous: Damian Lillard is the NBA's Rookie of the Year. No, it never was in question. Lillard, the sixth overall pick in last June's draft out of Weber State, led all rookies with a 19-point scoring average. He also averaged 6.1 assists and 3.1 rebounds, playing in all 82 games this season. He broke Stephen Curry's rookie record for 3-pointers in a season, finishing with 185, ...

Earthquakes' Lenhart suspended 2 games by MLS

NEW YORK (AP) - San Jose forward Steven Lenhart was suspended two games and fined an undisclosed sum by the MLS disciplinary committee on Wednesday for his violent play in last weekend's game against Chivas USA. Lenhart was penalized for cleating Chivas' Mario de Luna in the face and nearly stepping on it after the defender had slid to to knock the ball away from him in the 68th minute of the teams' ...

Warriors upset with dirty play in loss to Nuggets

DENVER (AP) - Mark Jackson is standing up for his smooth-shooting guard who's constantly getting knocked down.

Pokulok’s OT goal sends Thunder to Western final

NCHORAGE, Alaska – Defenseman Nik Pokulok parked a centering pass by Shawn Weller at the left post to lift the Stockton Thunder to another memorable, come-from-behind victory, 4-3 in sudden death overtime over the Alaska Aces in Game 6 to win the Western Conference Semifinal before 4,868 fans at Sullivan Arena on Tuesday.

Cespedes drives in 4 runs, A’s beat Angels

OAKLAND (AP) - Yoenis Cespedes drove in four runs, Seth Smith knocked in three with a bases-loaded double and the Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels 10-6 on Tuesday.