Rodriguez fields third in minors

LAKELAND, Florida — New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez went hitless in four at-bats and played in the field for the first time during his three-game rehab assignment with the Single-A Tampa Yankees on Saturday.

He flew out to shallow right in his first at-bat, grounded out and struck out twice. He handled his only chance at third when he fielded a soft grounder.

Rodriguez is 0-for-7 with four strikeouts during his stint with the Tampa Yankees. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman indicated that there was a good chance that Rodriguez would join the Yankees on Monday when they open a three-game series in St. Petersburg, Florida, with the Tampa Bay Rays.

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Wozniacki, Clijsters reach Australian Open third round

MELBOURNE, Australia — Defending champion Kim Clijsters and No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the third round of the Australian Open in contrasting styles on Wednesday.

Great Dane: Caroline Wozniacki hits a shot during her 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) win over Anna Tatishvili on Wednesday. AP

Clijsters needed only 47 minutes to beat Stephanie Foretz Gacon of France 6-0, 6-1, then showed just how much support she has at Rod Laver Arena by getting the crowd to sing "Happy Birthday" to her younger sister.

Wozniacki seemed to be on the same trajectory, but had to battle to beat Anna Tatishvili of Georgia in the second set, recovering two service breaks and saving a set point en route to a 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) win.

She needs to reach the quarterfinals to have a chance of retaining the top ranking she held for all but one week in 2011. That's also the stage when she could come across Clijsters.

The No. 11-seeded Clijsters showed no signs of a hip problem that forced her to retire during a semifinal against Daniela Hantuchova at a warmup tournament two weeks ago.

She will meet Hantuchova in the next round here, and has a potential rematch of the 2011 Australian Open final with French Open champion Li Na in the fourth round.

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer took differing paths against German rivals to the next stage.

Nadal beat Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in the last afternoon match on Rod Laver Arena. Second-seeded Nadal had his right knee heavily taped again after hurting it while sitting in a hotel chair on the weekend, but it didn't seem to restrict him.

"Much better, I am very happy about how the knee is improving," Nadal said. "I am playing without problems, so that's OK."

Federer, who has won four of his 16 Grand Slam titles in Australia, got a walkover into the third round when Andreas Beck withdrew from their scheduled Hisense Arena match due to a lower back injury. It deprived Federer of a different view at Melbourne Park, where he has played every match in Rod Laver Arena since the third round of the 2004 Australian Open.

Eighth-ranked Mardy Fish became the first top 10 player on the men's side to lose, falling 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) to Colombia's Alejandro Falla.

No. 7 Tomas Berdych advanced 6-1, 6-0, 7-6 (7-4) over Olivier Rochus of Belgium, 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, No. 18 Feliciano Lopez and No. 30 Kevin Anderson all advanced.

On the women's side, 10th-seeded Francesca Schiavone was eliminated 6-4, 6-3 by fellow Italian Romina Oprandi and No. 16 Peng Shuai lost 6-2, 6-4 to Iveta Benesova of Czech Republic. Former No. 1-ranked Jelena Jankovic beat Chang Kai-chen of Taiwan 6-4, 6-2.

Clijsters and No. 20 Hantuchova, a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 winner over Lesia Tsurenko, have been playing each other for years.

"When the injury happened, it happened against Daniela," Clijsters said of the hip muscle spasms she had at the Brisbane International.

"She's been playing well this season so far.

"We both go back a long way — we grew up playing under-14s together. Now almost 30 — still battling it out."

This was Clijsters' best run at a major since the last Australian Open — she lost in the second round at the French Open and didn't play Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

Li is also returning to form, going further than she has at a Grand Slam tournament since her breakthrough win at the French Open. She went out in the second round at Wimbledon and the first at the U.S. Open, but reached the third round at Melbourne Park with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Olivia Rogowska.

She next plays No. 26 Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain, who beat Olga Govortsova of Belarus 6-1, 6-0.

Li said she loved being back on Rod Laver Arena, where she burst onto the global tennis scene last year, while Clijsters still clearly feels at home on a court where she's still known as "Aussie Kim" long after her relationship with Lleyton Hewitt ended.

In a post-match TV interview, she asked presenter Rennae Stubbs a favor, saying her brother-in-law phoned her from Belgium to ask if she could convince the crowd to sing a birthday song for Elke, Clijsters' younger sister.

The crowd obliged, after Clijsters kicked it off.

Li took longer for her second-round win, saying it was harder than the scoreline suggested.

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Thunder claim third win in as many nights

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma City Thunder became the first team to win three games in three nights during the NBA's condensed schedule this season, and they managed to make it look easy.

Bear trap: Grizzlies guard O.J. Mayo attempts a shot between Lakers defenders Pau Gasol (left) and Andrew Bynum on Sunday in Los Angeles. The Lakers won 90-82. AP

Kevin Durant had 21 points and 10 rebounds, reserve James Harden scored 20 and the Thunder rested their starters throughout the fourth quarter in a 108-96 victory against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.

"I just think the big thing was not to dwell on it and not make too much out of it. It's not sometimes as bad as people think," said Nick Collison, who had his first double-double by recording season bests of 12 points and 10 rebounds.

"I'm glad it happened earlier in the year. I think that was a positive but I think we all felt fine."

The Thunder were also able to rest their starters throughout the fourth quarter on the front end of the back-to-back-to-back after leading Houston by 21 through three.

This time, they outscored San Antonio 37-21 in the third to build a 22-point cushion.

"I knew our guys were going to compete and they were going to give everything they had for the three games. You were hoping that you could win them all," Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said.

"Fortunately for us, we did."

The Spurs, already without Manu Ginobili because of a broken left hand, played without point guard Tony Parker after he came out of the game and walked to locker room midway through the third quarter. He returned to the bench a few minutes later, and a team spokesman said Parker was fine and could have played.

DeJuan Blair also pulled himself from the game after he cramped up just after halftime. He didn't come back either.

Gary Neal, who scored a team-high 18 points, would not let their absences be an excuse.

"I just think a couple turnovers here, and their athletes were able to get out and run the lane, and the score ballooned on us," Neal said.

Lakers 90, Grizzlies 82

In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant scored 26 points, Andrew Bynum had 15 points and 15 rebounds, and the Lakers beat Memphis for their sixth consecutive home victory.

Matt Barnes scored 15 points and Pau Gasol had 13 points and 15 rebounds for the Lakers, who have won six of eight after an 0-2 start despite playing the NBA's busiest early-season schedule, matching Oklahoma City with 10 games in the first 15 days.

Although they haven't lost at Staples Center since their season opener on Christmas, the Lakers committed a season-high 27 turnovers and never pulled away from the injury-depleted Grizzlies. Memphis had beaten Los Angeles in two of the last three meetings, including a 19-point blowout in the Grizzlies' last trip to Staples.

Magic 104, Kings 97

In Sacramento, Jason Richardson scored a season-high 22 points, Glen Davis added a season-best 20 and Orlando beat the Kings despite playing much of the game without foul-plagued Dwight Howard.

The All-Star center had five points and four rebounds in 20 minutes and spent most of the first three quarters in foul trouble. He didn't get his first rebound until 4 minutes into the fourth and was scoreless before converting a three-point play with 6:35 remaining, putting the Magic ahead 87-85.

Tyreke Evans had a season-high 28 points and eight assists for the Kings. DeMarcus Cousins, also hampered by fouls, had 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Timberwolves 93, Wizards 72

In Washington, Kevin Love had 20 points and 16 rebounds and Ricky Rubio had 13 points and a career-high 14 assists to lead Minnesota past the winless Wizards.

Rubio also grabbed six rebounds and controlled the game during much of his 30 minutes off the bench. He entered with 1:30 remaining in the first quarter and quickly hit a 22-foot jumper to start a 17-2 run that gave Minnesota the lead for good.

Suns 109, Bucks 93

In Phoenix, Steve Nash had 17 assists and 10 points in 27 minutes as the Suns routed the weary Bucks.

The Suns beat the Bucks in Phoenix for the 24th straight time, the NBA's second-longest active streak behind San Antonio's 27 wins in a row at home over Golden State.

Trail Blazers 98, Cavaliers 78

In Portland, LaMarcus Aldridge had 28 points and eight rebounds, and the Trail Blazers got off to a slow start but pulled away to beat Cleveland.

Wesley Matthews added 24 points for the Trail Blazers, who led by as many as 24.

Kyrie Irving, the top pick in last June's NBA draft, had 21 points — 11 in the third quarter. Antawn Jamison, who was Cleveland's top scorer going into the game, made a 3-pointer for his only basket of the game.

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Swindon stuns Wigan in F.A. Cup third round

LONDON — If Blackburn and Wigan were hoping for some respite in the F.A. Cup amid their miserable campaigns in the English Premier League, they were to be sorely mistaken.

Roman empire: Tottenham's Roman Pavlyuchenko celebrates his goal against Cheltenham Town on Saturday in London. AP

The topflight's two bottom teams were the big casualties as world soccer's oldest knockout competition threw up a typically mixed bag of results in the third round on Saturday.

Argentine midfielder Jonas Gutierrez scored the winner in the fifth minute of stoppage time as Newcastle snatched a 2-1 victory over Blackburn in one of the round's two all-Premier League matches.

In the day's biggest giant-killing act, fourth-tier Swindon — managed by former West Ham forward Paolo Di Canio — rallied to beat Wigan 2-1 at the County Ground.

"My lads deserve something from the club — maybe just a small plaque with all their names because they did something special," Di Canio said.

It wasn't all plain sailing for the rest of the Premier League teams either.

Queens Park Rangers required a last-minute equalizer by Heidar Helguson to secure a 1-1 draw and a replay against third-tier MK Dons while David Wheater's 77th-minute header earned Bolton a 2-2 draw at Macclesfield, which plays in England's fourth division.

Tottenham, which is third in the Premier League, avoided what would have been the mightiest upset by easing past fourth-tier Cheltenham 3-0 thanks to goals by attacking trio Jermain Defoe, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Giovani dos Santos.

Some of the famous romance of the cup was lost as Tamworth, Fleetwood and Salisbury were all defeated, which ensures that there won't be any non-league teams in the fourth-round draw.

Everton beat Tamworth 2-0 after goals by defenders Johnny Heitinga and Leighton Baines while fellow fifth-tier team Fleetwood was thrashed 5-1 at home by northwest rival Blackpool.

Salisbury, which at 17th in the sixth-tier Conference South was the lowest-ranked club left in the competition, was defeated 3-1 at Sheffield United.

United States midfielder Clint Dempsey scored a hat trick in Fulham's 4-0 home win over Charlton, Ireland striker Simon Cox did the same for West Bromwich Albion in a 4-2 win at Cardiff City while Premier League teams Aston Villa, Stoke and Norwich also progressed.

Liverpool beat Oldham 5-1 on Friday, with the match of the round coming on Sunday when Manchester City and Manchester United — the Premier League's top two teams — meeting in a derby at Etihad Stadium.

MANCHESTER ENGLAND — Paul Scholes is coming out of retirement to rejoin Manchester United for the rest of season, starting Sunday in the F.A. Cup against Manchester City.

The 37-year-old midfielder quit soccer at the end of last season but has remained at Old Trafford as a coach.

United says Scholes approached manager Alex Ferguson to reverse his decision and would be on the bench at Man City on Sunday.

Scholes says it's been "pretty clear since I stopped playing that I miss it."

He added: "I'm delighted the manager feels I can still make a contribution to the team and I'm looking forward to playing my part in trying to bring more success to this great club."

Ferguson says "it's fantastic that Paul has made this decision."

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Nobeoka Gakuen captures third title of 2011

Mission accomplished. And Nobeoka Gakuen achieved that feat in dominant fashion.

Senegalese center Bamba Diouf scored 25 points and cleared 23 rebounds, and Reo Bendorame had 22 points as the Kyushu school earned its first Winter Cup title with an 88-55 win over Jinsei Gakuen in the boys final of the 42nd All-Japan High School Tournament.

With the national championship title, Nobeoka Gakuen, which won the National Athletic Meet and Inter-High School Athletic Meet, completed the "triple crown" in the same year.

"While we couldn't win in the Winter Cup previously, our players were really serious to finally grab one, and I think it paid off," said Junichiro Hongo, head of the Miyazaki Prefecture delegation after the game at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Thursday.

Nobeoka Gakuen's merciless game on both sides of the ball started from the beginning. While Bendorame helped the team get off to a strong start with his scoring, the team's zone defense gave Jinsei Gakuen a hard time to even get near the basket.

Nobeoka Gakuen led 20-8 at the end of the first quarter, and was ahead 54-28 at halftime.

Despite the large lead, Nobeoka Gakuen didn't get loose in the second half, and continued to make life difficult for Jinsei.

Jinsei's tall second-year player Yuta Watanabe showed some resistance by scoring seven points in the final period, but it was too late for a dramatic comeback for the Kagawa Prefecture school.

"I think we played our own basketball today," said senior Bendorame, who was born to a Brazilian father and a Japanese mother. "That pleased us the most."

Nobeoka Gakuen forced 21 Jinsei Gakuen turnovers — 15 of which came from steals — limited its own to 10 and out-rebounded its opponent 57-42.

Nobeoka Gakuen had 22 offensive boards. It was one of the deciding factors in the game.

"We hardly played our ball," Watanabe said of his school, which had never previously made the Winter Cup final eight. "From the beginning to the end, we didn't play our game."

Nobeoka Gakuen had three 100-point games, with at least a 23-point lead at the end of each of its five games in the tournament. But its dominance, according to Hongo and his players, started from past failures in the yearend tourney.

Last year, Nobeoka Gakuen exited the tournament after a 95-64 loss to Shiga Prefecture's Kosen High School.

"We've played mainly with second-year players since last year," Bendorame said. "We lost (in the All-Japan Tournament) but we really grew from that and it brought us all the way here."

Captain Hiroki Iwata said: "Every year, Nobeoka Gakuen would end the year in the Winter Cup (failing to win the championship). But we've finally done it and I'm extremely excited about winning it with all the members of the team."

In the third-place game, Shizuoka Prefecture's Numazu Chuo defeated Fukuoka Ohori 90-56.

After the game, Diouf, Bendorame, Watanabe, Senegalese Cherif Sow of Numazu Chuo and Fukuoka Ohori's Naoto Fukumoto were named to the all-tournament team.

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Hussey, Ponting stand tall on third day of test

MELBOURNE, Australia — Bowlers dictated the fortunes of the first test between Australia and India on Wednesday as 15 wickets fell for 274 runs on the third day, leaving the match evenly poised.

Easy does it: Australia's Ricky Ponting hits a four on the third day of the first test match against India. AP

Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey defied age and their critics to score half centuries in a 115-run partnership after a top-order collapse as Australia struggled to 179-8 at stumps with a 230-run lead.

India paceman Umesh Yadav (4-49) had taken three quick wickets in the afternoon session to leave Australia reeling at 27-4 before the experienced pair came together to halt the slide.

Australia's batting struggle mirrored that of India in the morning session as recalled Australia paceman Ben Hilfenhaus (5-75) completed his first test five-wicket to help dismiss the tourists for 282. India lost their last eight wickets for 68 runs.

Hussey will resume the fourth day on 79 with James Pattinson on 3.

"Tomorrow morning's going to be really crucial for us now," Ponting said. "We know James Pattinson's got some really solid promise with the bat. He's going to have to show that for us tomorrow morning and we need Mike Hussey to go on and get a big score and continue to keep pushing the game forward.

"We're 230 ahead now, which is a reasonable total for India to have to chase, but ideally we'd like to make a few more than that."

The 36-year-old Hussey smashed seven boundaries in a defiant, career-saving knock. He and 37-year-old Ponting have been the subject of intense scrutiny in recent weeks with calls for their retirement.

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Wild storm back to edge Ducks in third period

ANAHEIM, California — The Minnesota Wild pulled off another rally on the road. The penalty-prone Anaheim Ducks were kicking themselves again after blowing another early lead and watching the visiting team take the game away from them.

In the hunt: Wild defenseman Clayton Stoner, left, vies for the puck against the Ducks' Saku Koivu on Sunday in Anaheim, California. The Wild won 5-3. AP PHOTO

Nick Johnson scored the go-ahead goal with 5:31 left in the third period, and Casey Wellman and Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored 32 seconds apart in the second period, leading the Wild to a 5-3 victory over the Ducks on Sunday night.

This was the third straight road game for Minnesota in which it overcame a two-goal deficit to win. It also was the 11th time this season that Minnesota has won when its opponent scored first, the most in the NHL. The victory ended a streak of 14 straight meetings between the clubs at Honda Center in which the team that scored first won.

"We have a group of guys in there that are not going to quit, they're not going to give up and look for excuses," rookie coach Mike Yeo said. "One thing we can really credit our success with is that we try not to get wrapped up in the score. We just know that it's about the next shift, going out and playing our game. All it takes is one play to get us right back in there."

Josh Harding, who took over in net for an injured Niklas Backstrom after the first period of Minnesota's 4-2 win over New Jersey on Friday night and stopped all 22 shots he faced, made 24 saves against the Ducks in his first start since Nov. 25 while rookie Matt Hackett served as his backup.

Dany Heatley scored a power-play goal and Kyle Clutterbuck added a short-handed empty-netter with 10.2 seconds left for Minnesota in the opener of a five-game trip. Matt Cullen had three assists for Minnesota against his former club.

Avalanche 4, Red Wings 2

In Denver, Ryan O'Reilly had two goals, Semyon Varlamov made 27 saves and Colorado beat Detroit to end the Red Wings' winning streak at seven.

Paul Stastny and T.J. Galiardi also scored, and Gabriel Landeskog added two assists to help Colorado win its third straight. Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen scored for Detroit, and Ty Conklin made 31 saves.

Galiardi got the winner while Colorado killed off Ryan Wilson's minor penalty. Landeskog carried the puck into the Detroit zone, dropped it to the trailing Galiardi and he beat Conklin with a slap shot from the top of the circle with 10:38 left. It was Colorado's fourth short-handed goal of the season.

Detroit pulled Conklin for an extra skater with a minute left and O'Reilly scored into the empty net with 34 seconds left.

Canucks 5, Flames 1

In Vancouver, Roberto Luongo made 21 saves, Chris Higgins and David Booth each had a goal and two assists and the Canucks beat Calgary for their sixth victory in seven games.

Daniel Sedin and Kevin Bieksa had power-play goals and Jannik Hansen also scored to help Vancouver rebound from a 6-5 home loss to Nashville on Thursday.

Alex Tanguay scored for Calgary, coming off a 5-3 victory in Edmonton on Saturday night.

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Li gunning for third straight Grand Slam final

Let's do it again: Li Na has reached back-to-back Grand Slam finals heading into Wimbledon. AP

WIMBLEDON, England — After teaching the world a Chinese tennis lesson in Paris by winning the French Open, Li Na may have to educate her own mother on just what a big deal that was.

Li became the first Chinese player to win a Grand Slam title two weeks ago at Roland Garros. About 116 million people reportedly watched the match in China, but Li said her mother only sent her a text message following the victory over Francesca Schiavone to ask when she would be back home.

"I said, 'After Wimbledon.' And then she never sent me back again, so . . .," Li said. "I think she knows I won the tournament. I don't know if even she knows how big (the) tournament is. I didn't ask her."

Ask anyone on the women's tour, though, and they'll be able to answer just fine.

"What she's done for her country, China, all the pride that they have to have, a Grand Slam champion from that country, is incredible," said Maria Sharapova, who won her first major title at Wimbledon in 2004.

Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki, who is still searching for her first major title, said Li's victory was good for tennis.

"I'm sure that a lot of young girls and boys in China now also want to play tennis because they want to play like Li Na," Wozniacki said. "It's great for tennis that we can have it even bigger as a sport than it is now."

Li also reached the final at the Australian Open, losing to Kim Clijsters. But while two straight Grand Slam finals has Li among the favorites at Wimbledon along with Sharapova, Wozniacki and the Williams sisters, she doesn't quite agree.

"You win the French Open (on clay), doesn't mean . . . you can do well in Wimbledon," said Li, who chatted briefly with Schiavone on Saturday as rain interrupted her practice schedule. "Change of surface. Totally different.

"So what I say before: French is over."

Li has twice made the quarterfinals at the All England Club, including in 2010. In the first round, she will face Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia.

"I always like to do better than last year," said Li, who could face 2008 Wimbledon semifinalist Zheng Jie of China in the third round.

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Imada ends third at Byron Nelson

IRVING, Texas — Ryuji Imada fell one stroke short of a playoff berth Sunday, finishing in a share of third after shooting a 1-over 71 in the final round of the HP Byron Nelson Championship.

Imada, who teed off in third, dropped a shot from the third round en route to a total of 2-under 278 to tie with American Joe Ogilvie at TPC Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas.

American Keegan Bradley, who fired a final-round 68, won a playoff against Ryan Palmer for his first PGA Tour victory after finishing in regulation on 277.

Imada, who failed in his bid for his second PGA Tour win and first in three seasons, made four birdies against five bogeys, including consecutive bogeys on Nos. 17 and 18.

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