Willkommen » ks Sydney champion Viktor Troicki of Serbia dismissed

OAKLAND, Calif. - Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon walked toward shortstop and his right foot sunk some two inches, causing him to turn his right ankle. That was minor, yet everybody involved in the postponed game between the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics on Friday night feared the worst if they had tried to play on a rain-soaked field. Even the umpiring crew deemed the conditions too dangerous. McClendon had his doubts the field could be ready for a 1:05 p.m. first pitch Saturday. "Thats probably the worst conditions Ive seen in all my years in baseball. Its not safe," McClendon said. "It was just a safety issue more than anything. They made the right decision." David Rinetti, As vice-president of stadium operations, said the tarp was kept off the field overnight in an effort to let it dry out after a week of heavy rains in the drought-starved Bay Area but an unexpected downpour caused further problems and the grounds crew worked tirelessly on the infield dirt from 7 a.m. until the game was called about the time of scheduled first pitch at 7:05 p.m. A delay had previously been announced. "Unfortunate misinterpretation of the forecast," Oakland general manager Billy Beane said. The As use a weather consultant to help make decisions during the wet weather and regarding use of the tarp. Rinetti said one-third of an inch of rain hit the area and the infield was under water when officials arrived Friday. The tarp went back on at about 4:35 p.m. when a steady rain began again. "Over the last week weve had probably more rain at the facility than weve had as long as Ive been here, which is many, many years," Rinetti said. "The field has taken a significant hit all week, and weve been working with a weather consultant get as much up to date information as possible. We had information last night that there was going to be a break in the storm. And because of that we wanted to use that opportunity to help dry out the field. Unfortunately we were wrong on the amount of rain, and we got about a third of an inch of rain last night." Players on both sides decided to play one game Saturday afternoon rather than a split doubleheader, which will be played later. Felix Hernandez (1-0) will start as scheduled for Seattle against Dan Straily, who had been set to go Friday in his season debut. "Prepare to pitch tomorrow," Hernandez said. "That happens." Mariners athletic trainer Rick Griffin recalled a time in Chicago in the late 90s when Seattle played on a soggy field and lost one player to a groin injury and another to a pulled hamstring, prompting manager Lou Piniella to tell everyone, "Nobody run hard," Griffin said, quoting the former skipper. This marked Oaklands third weather-related game to be called off in seven days after the preseason Bay Bridge finale against the Giants was cancelled last Saturday. Tuesdays game was also postponed by rain and made up Wednesday as part of a day-night doubleheader. For the Mariners, it was another strange visit to the rundown Oakland Coliseum. Last June 16, a clogged pipe caused a sewage backup and flooding on the bottom floor of the ballpark that sent the Mariners and As scrambling around in towels. They headed for higher ground, to shower in the Oakland Raiders locker room. A hazmat crew inspected the affected areas for E-coli and a huge cleanup operation ensued — including the installation of new carpeting and the removal of some lockers in the visiting clubhouse to repair water-damaged walls with new sheet rock and wooden supports. In addition, new drywall was put in about a foot above the floor. New cabinets were needed in the visiting training room, and a new dining table and vanity in the nearby umpires room. Seattle GM Jack Zduriencik considers the incidents separate. He is more concerned with playing baseball. "Its a dated facility, what can you say?" Zduriencik said. "Its unusual. Very unusual. But they just didnt get the tarp down is what they said. They couldnt get the field ready. Well see what happens. They said theyll work on it all night and what that means, well have to see. But they have a lot of work to do to get it ready." Wholesale Nike Free . His head snapped back from the impact and hit the floor. The All-Star power forward was all right afterward, a relief for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Nike Free Wholesale China . Hughes, 30, is a former Major Leaguer with the Baltimore Orioles, having played in 14 games with the Os in 2010. He played with Class AA Binghamton of the Eastern League in the New York Mets system last season. http://www.cheapnikefree.net/ . JOHNS, N. Cheap Nike Free China . Left-handed reliever Boone Logan agreed to a $16.5 million, three-year contract on Friday, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. Discount Nike Free .C. -- Only two Syracuse teams have won their first 20 games, and C.Melbourne, Australia (SportsNetwork.com) - Three members of the Big Four won second-round matches Wednesday at the 2015 Australian Open. Second-seeded former world No. 1 Roger Federer had to come from behind to beat Italian Simone Bolelli 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, while third-seeded former top- ranked star Rafael Nadal needed all five sets and survived cramps to hold off American Tim Smyczek 6-2, 3-6, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 7-5 at Melbourne Park. The 2014 Wimbledon runner-up and 17-time Grand Slam king Federer owns four Aussie Open titles and was the 2009 runner-up here to Nadal. Federers next opponent will be Italian Andreas Seppi. Playing just his 10th tour-level match since July of last year, Nadal ground out a comeback victory against the world No. 112 Smyczek. I dont know what was going on, Nadal said in a courtside interview. There was imitation, I started to have cramps in different places. I was not in the perfect shape. The 14-time Grand Slam champ and reigning French Open titlist Nadal maintained his record of never losing to a qualifier at a Grand Slam championship, but his win kept fans at Rod Laver Arena on the edges of their seats. With Nadal serving at 6-5 in the fifth set, Smyczek gave the Spaniard a break. A fan shouted just as Nadal was about to strike his first serve, causing him to miss long. As Nadal glared into the stands, Smyczek motioned that he should retake the serve. Nadal did -- and won the point and the match. Smyczek won Nadals respect. What he did at the end of the fifth is just amazing, Nadal said. Very few players can do that after four hours something of a match, at 6-5, love-30. So I just will say thanks to him because hes a great example what he did today. The former Oz champ and two-time runner-up triumphed in 4 hours, 12 minutes to set up a third-round meeting with Israeli Dudi Sela. Nadal lost to Stan Wawrinka in last years finale in Melbourne. Meanwhile, sixth-seeded three-time Aussie Open runner-up Andy Murray eased past Aussie Marinko Matosevic 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 on Day 3 at the fortnight.dddddddddddd The two-time Grand Slam champions third-round opponent will be Portuguese Joao Sousa. Seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych handled Austrian Jurgen Melzer 7-6 (7-0), 6-2, 6-2, while 10th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov got past Slovak Lukas Lacko 6-3, 6-7 (10-12), 6-3, 6-3 and 14th-seeded South African Kevin Anderson beat Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3). In other action involving seeds, former Aussie runner-up Marcos Baghdatis upset No. 20 David Goffin 6-1, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0; Aussie Bernard Tomic took out No. 22 Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5); rising Aussie Nick Kyrgios drove out No. 23 Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 5-7, 6-4; No. 24 Richard Gasquet grounded Aussie James Duckworth 6-2, 6-3, 7-5; last weeks Sydney champion Viktor Troicki of Serbia dismissed No. 26 Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0; the aforementioned Sela surprised No. 28 Lukas Rosol 7-6 (7-2), 5-7, 7-5, 6-3; Seppi erased No. 29 Jeremy Chardy 7-5, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1; and Sousa bested No. 32 Martin Klizan 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 1-0, retired. Also advancing were Aussie Sam Groth and Tunisias Malek Jaziri. The second round is scheduled to conclude Thursday, including matches for top- seeded four-time Aussie champion Novak Djokovic and the fourth-seeded reigning titlist Wawrinka. The seven-time major winner Djokovic will take on Russian Andrey Kuznetsov, while Wawrinka will look to extend his Melbourne winning streak to nine matches with a meeting against Romanian Marius Copil. Also on the Day 4 schedule will be fifth-seeded U.S. Open runner-up Kei Nishikori, eighth-seeded Canadian slugger Milos Raonic, ninth-seeded David Ferrer, and former No. 1 and former Aussie runner-up Lleyton Hewitt. ' ' '