Antti Niemi’s mind was clear and his game was sharp. It was just what the Blackhawks needed to even up their first-round series with the Nashville Predators.Niemi had 23 saves in his second career playoff game to help the Blackhawks beat the Predators 2-0 on Sunday night.Niemi, a rookie, didn’t dwell on his first playoff game two nights earlier when he gave up two goals, one on a bouncing puck in a 4-1 loss in the series opener. That loss put Sunday night’s game into the must-win category for the Blackhawks with Games 3 and 4 in the Western Conference series slated for Nashville on Tuesday and Thursday.The Blackhawks got a power-play goal from Dave Bolland and a score from Patrick Kane on a 3-on-1 break in the final period against Pekka Rinne, who had 31 saves.But it was the Hawk defense that led the way. The Blackhawks had 13 blocked shots against the Predators, who were without leading scorer Patric Hornqvist, a scratch with an upper-body injury. The 30-goal scorer, who played 13 minutes in Game 1, is expected to return for Game 3. He had taken a slap shot off the body on April 7.The Predators’ offense was lacking a bit without Hornqvist. On the power play, Jonathan Toews took a pass in traffic in front of the net from Kane and then in turn found Bolland in the left circle and his backhander gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead at 8:44 of the second.It was the fifth career playoff goal for Bolland, who scored six goals and played only 39 games this season after back surgery.Rinne made a sprawling save minutes later on another power play, stopping a shot by Marian Hossa to keep the Blackhawks’ lead at that point to a single goal.The Predators, who had the fewest penalty minutes per game of any team in the NHL this season, were called for three straight in the second period.Kane came down on the 3-on-1 break — one of the few breaks the Blackhawks have had in the first two games against Nashville’s tough defense, held the puck on his stick as if he might pass and then rifled it past Rinne on the stick side for a 2-0 lead with more 4 minutes elapsed in the final period.Niemi made two quick saves on good chances by against Dustin Boyd — one with his right pad — early in the second period to keep it scoreless. And then he stopped a hard slapper from Marcel Goc early in the third before Kane increased the lead to two.The Hawks best first-period scoring chance came when Hossa made a nice pass across the crease to Toews. But with Rinne leaning to one side and the net partially open, Toews hit the crossbar with his shot.Bolland knocked the puck in the net 42 seconds later, but it was disallowed because it came after the whistle when Rinne went to his knees to cover it up. That prompted a loud profane cheer(B.S.) from the crowd at the United Center.The Blackhawks had a 13-5 shots edge in the first period but couldn’t convert. The Predators went on two power plays but couldn’t solve Niemi.

NOTES—The Predators won the first game of their 2006 series with San Jose and then lost four straight…..The Blackhawks have a 16-39 series record when losing the first game.

The Cubs finished a disapointing first home stand in a lousy fashion. They lost 3-2 in ten innings to the lowly Houston Astros. In doing so,they blew a 2-0 lead, wasted a nice effort by Ryan Dempster, lost two of three to the same Astros who came to town 1-9, and ended the first two home series 3-3. Dempster left in the eigth inning with a 2-0 lead,but gave up a single to Tommy Manzella and he walked Michael Bourn with two gone. Carlos Marmol tried to get a four out save, but he yielded a run scoring single to Jeff Keppinger whicch made it 2-1. Marmol blew the save in the top of the ninth by giving up a one out single to Hunter Pence(who stole second),and a run scoring double down the RF line by Cub killer Geoff Blum.Sean Marshall(0-1)started the 10th and gave up a leadoff pinch double to RF by Jason Michaels who was bunted to third by Bourn. After Keppinger was walked intentionally, Pedro Feliz lifted the game winning sa fly to deep enough CF. Matt Lindstrom struck out the side in the Cub tenth around a two out single by Byrd for his second save,both against the Northsiders.The Cubs only runs off Houston starter Wandy Rodriguez came in the botto of the third when Jeff Baker walked,Geovany Soto singled him to second,and Dempster bunted them to second and third. After Ryan Theriot bounced back to the mound, Marlon Byrd bounced a two run single between short and third.The Cubs were blanked the rest of the day.

NOTES—Attendance on a chilly day was 39,506…..Tim Byrdak(1-0) got the win in relief…..The Cubs start a seven game road trip Monday night with the first of four against the Mets at Citi Field with Randy Wells(1-0)opposing Jonathan Niese(0-1).The Cubs then play three net weekend with the Brewers at Miller Park.

LES

CLEVELAND—Shin-Soo Choo hit a grand slam and drove in five runs to lead the Cleveland Indians to a 7-4 win over the slumping  White Sox on Sunday.Choo went 2 for 3 with a walk, hitting his second career slam for a 7-0 lead in the second inning off Gavin Floyd (0-2). His first grand slam came against Boston’s Josh Beckett on Aug. 3, 2006.Fausto Carmona (2-0) gave up three runs over six innings as the Indians completed their first three-game home sweep of the Sox since May 2003 when Jerry Manuel was still their Manager. Chris Perez came on with runners on first and third and one out in the ninth and yielded a sacrifice fly to Carlos Quentin, then threw a called third strike past Paul Konerko for his fourth save.Choo singled home Cleveland’s first run in a three-run first, and Sox killer Mark Grudzielanek — hitting just .091 — lined a two-run single to right for a 3-0 lead. The two RBI were his first since July 29, 2008, when he was with Kansas City.Omar Vizquel had an RBI double in the Sox three-run fifth, when Carmona yielded four hits and one walk on 32 pitches. Carmona threw only 44 pitches over the first four innings.Cleveland has four straight wins for the first time since winning five in a row last July 23-27. The Indians won two of three in Chicago to open this season, but lost five straight before taking the finale of a three-game series with Texas on Thursday.Carmona has two of those wins over Chicago and is 6-0 with a 2.79 ERA in six starts against the White Sox since Sept. 9, 2007.Meanwhile, Floyd continued to struggle on the road. He gave up seven runs in one-plus inning, allowing six hits and walking four. All five men he faced in the second reached safely.Floyd has a 14.14 ERA in two road starts. He had a 5.47 ERA on the road last year, with a 2.47 ERA at home, the largest disparity in the majors.

NOTES—Alexei Ramirez had three of the Sox 10 hits. … The White Sox have lost four straight and are 4-9 for the first time since 1997. … Pierre stole three bases, giving him 465 for his career to pass Delino DeShields for 45th on the career list. He leads active players in steals. … Indians CF Grady Sizemore made a diving catch to rob Pierre in third. … Quentin is in a 3-for-27 slump. He grounded out with two runners on in the seventh as a pinch-hitter.

CLEVELAND—Ozzie Guillen knows it’s too early to panic.On the other hand, the Chicago White Sox’s manager will not soon forget the 3-2 loss to the Cleveland Indians on Saturday.It’s easy to see why Guillen would feel that way. The White Sox were five outs away from a comeback win before everything fell apart, dropping the Southsiders to 4-8.Asdrubal Cabrera homered with one out in the eighth off starter Jake Peavy to tie the game. Left-hander Matt Thornton (1-1) came on to face two left-handed hitters, but retired neither. Grady Sizemore singled to center and scored easily when Shin-Soo Choo lined a 1-2 pitch to the wall in left-center for a double.Jensen Lewis (2-0) pitched a scoreless eighth. Chris Perez worked the ninth for his third save in four chances.The Indians allowed any fan with a ticket from the Cavaliers-Bulls NBA playoff game, played next door at Quicken Loans Arena, to watch the conclusion of the baseball game for $5. The attendance was announced at 12,885, including 1,107 from the basketball game.From a pitching standpoint, the game had gone perfectly into the eighth for Guillen. He planned to have Peavy face Cabrera and then go to Thornton for the left-handed hitters. The plan, however, didn’t work.While the Indians put together a late rally, Guillen didn’t blame his pitchers for the loss.The Indians won their third straight game after losing five in a row.Perez pitched a perfect ninth filling in as closer for the injured Kerry Wood. Perez had struggled in his last two outings, blowing a save on Sunday and failing to retire any of the three batters he faced in Monday’s home opener.Jake Westbrook took a two-hit shutout into the sixth, but Mark Teahen drew a leadoff walk, stole second and scored on Alexi Ramirez’s double. The White Sox had runners on first and third with one out, but Carlos Quentin hit into a double play.The Sox took the lead in the seventh. Andruw Jones started the rally with a one-out single and took second on a groundout. Alex Rios doubled to left-center with two outs on Westbrook’s first pitch.Westbrook, who hasn’t won since beating the Angels on April 8, 2008, gave up two runs in seven innings. He had surgery on his right elbow in June of that season and missed all of 2009.Cleveland’s first run came on an unusual play. Sizemore tripled to left-center and scored when Choo lined an apparent double to right. However, when Travis Hafner came to bat, the White Sox appealed at first base, claiming Choo missed the bag. First base umpire Dan Bellino called Choo out. Under Rule 10.06 d, Choo lost his base hit and the play was ruled a fielder’s choice with an RBI.Choo thought he had touched the bag.

NOTES—Guillen said Freddy Garcia, who is 0-2 with an 8.10 ERA in two starts will be skipped in the rotation and won’t start again until April 24 against Seattle.—Wood, sidelined since spring training with a sore back, threw 35 pitches in a bullpen session Saturday.—Westbrook retired the side on five pitches in the fourth.—Indians players wore brown hats made of recycled material Saturday. The Indians are among several other area companies stressing environmental actions and awareness.

MILWAUKEE—The Wolves surrendered four power-play goals and couldn’t find a spark as they were handed a 6-0 loss by the Milwaukee Admirals in Game 3 of the West Division Semifinal at the Bradley Center Saturday night. The Wolves still lead the best-of-seven series, 2-games-to-1.Milwaukee goaltender Mark Dekanich (1-2) held off all 30 shots the Wolves (2-1) fired on net to collect his first win of the postseason, while the Wolves Peter Mannino (2-1) and Drew MacIntyre split time in Mannino’s loss, posting 33 and eight saves respectively.Milwaukee (1-2) used a power-play opportunity late in the first period to take their first lead of the series, 1-0. Right wing Chris Mueller took a pass from Andreas Thuresson behind the goal line, moved to the corner of the net and slipped a shot between Mannino and the near post with 3:10 left in the first frame.The Admirals came out firing in the second period and center Blake Geoffrion cranked a shot through Mannino just 24 seconds into the frame.Milwaukee increased its lead to 3-0 at 14:21 of the middle frame with a power-play marker from Mike Santorelli. Mannino made an initial save but the rebound kicked out into a crowd in front of the net, where Santorelli was able to chip it over the line from his vantage on the right post.The Admirals padded their advantage, 4-0, with a third-power-play tally when Alex Sulzer’s quick rip from the left face-off circle screeched past Mannino at 16:25 of the second frame.Geoffrion made the Admiral’s lead 5-0 with a fourth power-play marker and his second tally of the game at 4:15 of the third period. The center took a shot, waited for the rebound to make its way out of the scrum in front of the net, regained control and roofed it over a diving MacIntyre.Thuresson made it 6-0 at 5:58 of the final frame, smacking a pass from Jon Blum straight down the slot and past MacIntyre.The Admirals host Game 4 at the Bradley Center on Monday, April 19, at 7 pm.

CLEVELAND—United for only one goal, LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal took their first step together toward an NBA title.Cleveland’s superstars, separated for a large chunk of the regular season, combined for 36 points and seven blocks as the Cavaliers opened the Eastern Conference playoffs with a 96-83 win over the Bulls on Saturday.James had 24 points and four blocks and a slimmed-down O’Neal, playing for the first time since Feb. 25, scored 12 in 24 minutes as the top-seeded Cavs won a testy opener between two teams that obviously don’t care for each other.Game 2 of the best-of-7 series is Monday in Cleveland.Derrick Rose had 28 points and 10 assists for the Bulls.

Roy Oswalt allowed five hits over seven scoreless innings for his first win, J.R. Towles homered and the Houston Astros hung on to beat the Cubs 4-3 on Saturday.The Northsiders scored three in the eighth and had the tying run on in the ninth after shortstop Tommy Manzella booted Ryan Theriot’s two-out grounder. Theriot went to second on a wild pitch by Matt Lindstrom, but Kosuke Fukudome struck out, giving the Astros their second win in three games after an 0-8 start.Tom Gorzelanny (0-1) gave up two runs in the second and left after being hit in the left arm by Pedro Feliz’s line drive in the third. Alfonso Soriano had another tough day in left field, dropping a fly ball.Towles raised his average from .056 to .182 with three hits and led off the fifth with his first homer. He also drove in two runs and scored two.A tough-luck loser in his first two starts, Oswalt (1-2) took sole possession of second place on the Astros’ career wins list with his 138th victory and moved ahead of Larry Dierker. He now trails Joe Niekro by six after striking out six without a walk.Brandon Lyon came on in the eighth and gave up a two-run double to left by Aramis Ramirez with one out, making it 4-2. Marlon Byrd then struck out before Soriano doubled down the left-field line to cut the lead to one. Chris Sampson then retired Mike Fontenot on a grounder to second to end the inning.Lindstrom then converted his first save with a scoreless ninth.
Gorzelanny’s arm was bruised in the third when Feliz’s liner struck just below his pitching shoulder. The ball ricocheted toward first baseman Derrick Lee, who stepped on the bag for the second out.Gorzelanny stayed in after a visit by the training staff, manager Lou Piniella and pitching coach Larry Rothschild, retiring Carlos Lee on a fly to deep left after throwing three warmup pitches. He was lifted for a pinch hitter in the bottom half, and Jeff Gray came on in the fourth, allowing one hit in two innings.That hit, however, was a line drive by Towles off the left-field foul pole. The Astros got another run in the seventh when Jeff Keppinger singled in Towles, and that was enough for Oswalt.The Astros finally gave him some run support early on after failing to score with him in the game in his first two starts.For the Cubs, it was a rough day.Besides losing Gorzelanny, Soriano was hearing boos again after his latest mishap in the field. He was slow to come in on Jason Michaels’ short fly with two out in the fifth and dropped the ball for his third error of the season, this one coming after he made a neat catch on a liner to left-center the previous day.

The Cubs proved they’re just as adept at scoring runs with small ball as they are swinging away.Ryan Theriot bunted in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, and Derrek Lee capped a six-run uprising with a three-run homer that sent the Cubs to a 7-2 victory over the scuffling Houston Astros on Friday.Theriot was retired easily his first three at-bats before coming to the plate with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh. He laid down a bunt toward Pedro Feliz, and the ball seemed ready to roll foul when the first baseman tried to make a play. It squirted away and everyone was safe, giving the Cubs a 3-2 lead.Kosuke Fukudome followed with a sacrifice fly, and Lee drove Jeff Fulchino’s 3-2 pitch over the left-field wall to put the game away. It was the Astros’ ninth loss in 10 games, and they’ve still scored only 21 runs — by far the fewest in the majors.Carlos Silva (1-0), making his first home start at Wrigley Field, was the beneficiary of the Cubs’ late surge. He allowed five hits, two unearned runs and no walks in seven innings.Acquired in December from Seattle for Milton Bradley, the ineffective and injury-prone Silva had been a $48 million flop in two seasons with the Mariners.Silva helped himself in the first inning with a run-scoring double — his first double and his first RBI since Aug. 25, 2003, when he was with Philadelphia. It was just his fourth career hit and first in nearly four years.Later, Silva kept his cool after two mistakes in the fourth inning involving Fukudome that helped Houston take a 2-1 lead. Marlon Byrd came over from center and called for Hunter Pence’s fly into the gap, but Fukudome also tried for the catch and knocked the ball out of hiss glove. The right fielder then failed to catch Chris Johnson’s sinking liner and the ball skipped all the way to the wall for an RBI triple. Fukudome said he should have yielded on the play.Silva gave up Tommy Manzella’s RBI single, but rebounded to strike out Quintero and was in command the rest of the way.Byrd started the seventh inning with a double off Felipe Paulino (0-1) and scored on Alfonso Soriano’s double. Paulino then walked the bases loaded, leading to the cascade of runs.Carlos Lee singled in the sixth to snap a career-worst 0-for-18 slump, but Houston’s $100 million cleanup hitter — who has averaged 109 RBI the last seven seasons — is still hitting just .103 and has yet to drive in a run.Soriano in left field and third baseman Aramis Ramirez robbed Lee of hits his first two times up, and he was visibly frustrated after striking out in the eighth.

NOTES—The Cubs have homered in their last 20 games against the Astros, the longest streak against one team in franchise history….Berkman, on the DL after arthroscopic knee surgery March 13, is expected to make his first rehab appearance Saturday at Triple-A Round Rock. He could return to Houston’s lineup Tuesday…..Astros RHP Sammy Gervacio (sore shoulder) is scheduled to pitch a rehab outing Monday at Round Rock…..Ted Lilly (shoulder surgery) will make one more rehab start, Monday at Class A Peoria, before returning to the Cubs’ rotation the following week.

CLEVELAND—Mitch Talbot pitched a complete game for his first career win and still got creamed — by his Cleveland Indians teammates. Talbot (1-0) was slathered with a shaving-cream pie in the face after beating the White Sox 6-2 Friday night.The right-hander retired 12 in a row after Paul Konerko snapped an 0-for-12 slump with his fourth homer leading off the second inning. Acquired in December from Tampa Bay, the 26-year-old gave up six hits and struck out two without walking a batter.Talbot got 17 groundball outs, including two with a runner on third and Cleveland clinging to a 3-2 lead in the sixth.Luis Valbuena hit a two-run homer in a three-run fourth and the Indians scored three unearned runs off Mark Buehrle (2-1) after an error by third baseman Mark Teahen in the sixth in a game that took a brisk 2 hours, 4 minutes.Talbot’s outing comes a day after David Huff went the distance in a 3-2 win against Texas, giving Cleveland its first back-to-back complete game victories since Chad Ogea and Charles Nagy did it in September 1996.Talbot used a four-pitch mix to baffle White Sox hitters, retiring 21 of the last 23 batters he faced.Austin Kearns’ two-out RBI single in the fourth gave Cleveland its first run off Buehrle in 18 1/3 innings, since Aug. 7. Valbuena followed with a two-run homer. He has two homers this season, off All-Stars Buehrle and Justin Verlander of Detroit. The homer off Verlander was a grand slam.Buehrle walked four, allowing six hits and six runs — three earned — over six innings. On opening day in Chicago, he pitched seven innings in a 6-0 win over Cleveland.