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Saturday, February 28, 2015 ■ The Voice ■ www.mcdonoughvoice.com
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Lewis leads LPGA Thailand by 3 after round 2
CHONBURI, Thailand (AP) — Stacy Lewis shot an unblemished round of 8-under-par 64 for a threeshot advantage over Amy Yang after the second round of the LPGA Thailand on Friday. Lewis, the world No. 3, enjoyed four straight birdies from hole Nos. 4-7,
plus four more on the back nine, to produce a two-day total of 14-under 130. She also led at Siam Country Club at the halfway stage in 2013, and finished third. "It really was a pretty easy day," Lewis said. "I didn't cause myself too much stress." Yang shot five birdies and eagled the par-5 10th in a 66 to lie at 11 under overall. She has three top-five finishes in her last four tournaments.
Four players were another three shots back at 8 under: Germany's Caroline Masson, South Koreans Jenny Shin and Mirim Lee, and Thailand's Ariya Jutanugarn. Former world No. 1 and two-time champion Yani Tseng of Taiwan, an overnight leader with Lewis and Brittany Lang, carded 72 to drop to 6 under, while Lang shot a 73 to be at 5 under.
Bulls expect Derrick Rose back this season from knee surgery ANDREW SELIGMAN AP Sports Writer
CHICAGO — The Chicago Bulls can breathe a little easier. They expect Derrick Rose to return this season from his latest knee surgery. General manager Gar Forman said the star point guard will miss 4-6 weeks after Friday's operation to fix a medial menisc us tear in his right knee. Forman described it as a quick outpatient procedure and said Rose was able to walk out of the hospital. "I talked to Derrick a couple times this week and obviously, he was really disappointed about being injured," Forman said. "But I think he's in a really good place and I think he's ready to attack this rehab the next several weeks and I know he's really anxious to get back out onto the floor with his teammates." Rose played in only 10 games last season before having surgery for a similar injury in November 2013, cutting short his long-awaited comeback from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. He had the meniscus reattached in that operation. Team physician Dr. Brian Cole, who operated on him last year and repaired the ACL in 2012, removed the damaged part this time. The procedure could lead to arthritis later in life, but Forman said it "should eliminate" the possibility of another tear, something the Bulls were told could happen after the operation last season. The Bulls are not sure when the latest tear occ urred. Rose had an
MRI Tuesday after complaining of pain in his knee. "The way it's been explained to me is there may be a number of players in the league that have menisc us tears right now and don't even know it," Forman said. "Until you start to have pain — that's when the MRI is taken and that's where the tear was found." It's not clear if Rose will be limited once he comes back. A return in about four weeks would give him eight to 10 games to tune up for the playoffs. The sixweek mark would put him back on the court around the start of the postseason. That's assuming no setbacks and that Rose and his advisers are on board with the timeframe. Rose sat out the 201213 season even though he was cleared to return later in the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during the playoff opener the previous year. "He never got to a point where he was comfortable enough to be out there," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "You don't know how a player's body is going to respond. He did the best he could. He couldn't quite get there." The Bulls made it clear: They expect Rose to get there this year. "I think Derrick's ready to attack it," Forman said. "I do. Like I said, I think he's anxious to attack this rehab and to get back on the floor with his teammates." Rose, averaging 18.4 points and 5.0 assists, has been inconsistent this season. Yet the
Bulls know they need him if they're going to make a serious run in the playoffs. For now, they're simply trying to keep pace with Cleveland in the Central Division. "For where we want to get to, we need Derrick back," Joakim Noah said. "There's no question about that." Rose, the 2011 MVP, averaged 22.6 points over his final 14 games before the All-Star break. But he struggled in his three appearances after that, shooting 23.5 percent. He had eight points on 1-for-13 shooting in Monday's win over Milwaukee. "I thought right before the break, he was playing great basketball," Thibodeau said. "It's unfortunate that it happened, because of the way he was playing. I think he had regained his confidence. He had great rhythm. He was doing all the things that he had done before."
Bulls' Gasol out for Timberwolves game with illness
CHICAGO — All-Star forward Pau Gasol is out for Friday's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves because of an illness, leaving the Chicago Bulls without two of their top players. Coach Tom Thibodeau confirmed at the shootaround that Gasol will not play. The 7-foot for ward is averaging 18.4 points and 12.1 rebounds. The Bulls are also missing star point guard Derrick Rose, who is expected to be out four to six weeks after having surgery Friday to repair a medial meniscus tear in his right knee.
Wainwright may miss Cards' opener CHUCK KING Associated Press
JUPITER, Fla. — Adam Wainwright won't pitch in exhibition games until mid-March because of his abdominal strain, a delay that could prevent the St. Louis Cardinals ace from starting the major league season opener at the Chicago Cubs on April 5.' Wainwright was hurt Monday while putting a 45-pound weight back on a rack. He returned to St. Louis for an examination by Dr. Michael Brunt, who said the injury was minor. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny is open to the idea of pushing back Wainwright's season debut a couple of days if the right-hander doesn't respond to proscribed rest as quickly as doctors expect. "That's always an option," Matheny said Friday. "We just have to see where we are and what it looks like, too." Wainwright will avoid running and weightlifting
for at least the next couple of days, but can resume throwing because his delivery and follow through don't cause any discomfort. He even emerged from the clubhouse during one of Friday's downpours and threw on flat ground. "It's the news that we thought we were going to hear but it was relieving to hear it — to know that there isn't something else in there going on that should cause some concern," Wainwright said. The Cardinals' training staff will evaluate Wainwright's progress early next week. "Everything that I've heard is that in four or five days I should feel dramatically betterm and they can start kind of bringing me along slow to get back into a normal daily routine," Wainwright said. Wainwright and the Cardinals say he needs at least three and preferably four spring training starts to be ready for the season. St. Louis had already
planned to scale back the exhibition workload of its ace, a plan that Wainwright accepted but didn't completely embrace. Wainwright made five exhibition starts last year. "Everybody was saying, 'You need to scale back your innings in spring training,'" Wainwright said. "Well, God just naturally found a way to make that happen without ticking me off." Matheny wouldn't commit to a date for Wainwright's first spring training start. "It might not look all that different depending on how he progresses," Mathney said. Wainwright went 20-9 with a 2.38 ERA last year, then underwent offseason elbow surgery to remove cartilage from his throwing elbow. He began 12-4 with a 1.83 ERA and started the All-Star Game for the NL, then went 8-5 with a 3.24 ERA. Most players chose not to follow Wainwright into the rain. Pitchers threw bullpen sessions inside the covered batting cages, and position players held their workouts in the clubhouse rooms and hallways. "We are going to try and stay on pace with getting the things accomplished that we would have done out there, with just a different space," Matheny said.