GLENDALE—That extra month of work at the end of last season helped Tim Lincecum stay in shape and keep his work ethic intact through a shorter winter – and it’s already showing.The San Francisco Giants’ ace struck out seven batters over 5 1-3 innings Wednesday to help the reigning World Series champions beat the White Sox 5-3.Lincecum allowed one run on three hits and walked three batters. He was pulled in the sixth by manager Bruce Bochy after surrendering a one-out walk to Alex Rios.The only trouble Lincecum found was in the second inning, when he gave up a leadoff single to Paul Konerko, followed by an RBI-triple off the bat of Rios. Still, with a runner on third and nobody out, Lincecum retired the next three batters without letting Rios score.Lincecum earned the win thanks to ample support from his offense, but the production came from an unexpected source, the bottom of the San Francisco lineup.The six through nine hitters in the Giants’ lineup accounted for 10 of the team’s 15 hits and drove in all five runs. Brandon Belt led the charge with three hits and three runs scored. He hit a solo home run in the sixth and doubled in another run in the seventh. Nate Schierholtz added three singles and an RBI for the Giants.Mark Buehrle showed vast improvement from his two previous starts. He scattered seven hits in five innings, allowing just one run while striking out three. He had allowed eight runs in his last six innings pitched.Brent Lillibridge hit a two-run homer in the seventh for the White Sox, who went hitless in nine at-bats with runners in scoring position.

NOTES—Buehrle picked Belt off of first base in the second inning, his first pickoff of the spring. … The announced attendance of 10,074 was the third-highest of the spring at Camelback Ranch. “They weren’t here to see Mark Buehrle and the White Sox,” Ozzie Guillen joked. … Lincecum said he weighs 168 pounds, up about 11 pounds from when he reported to camp.

Even a shortage of big men couldn’t slow the Bulls‘ march to the top of the Eastern Conference.Derrick Rose scored 23 points in the Bulls seventh straight win, a 98-79 victory over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night that moved them into sole possession of first place in the East.Luol Deng added 20 points and Keith Bogans scored 17, his highest total since joining the Bulls. Bogans took all of his 10 shots from behind the 3-point arc, hitting a season-high five.The Bulls (48-18) moved a half-game ahead of the Boston Celtics. The Bulls have not held the East’s top spot this late in the season since 1997-98, the season the Bulls won their sixth NBA championship.If two teams finish tied, the first tiebreaker is based on head-to-head results. The Celtics have won two of three against the Bulls this season, but the teams play once more, at the United Center on April 7.Washington center JaVale McGee had a rare triple-double with 11 points, 12 rebounds and 12 blocks, the most by an NBA player since Toronto’s Keon Clark had 12 on March 23, 2001.The Bulls jumped to a 31-19 lead in the first quarter with little resistance from the Wizards, who fell to 1-30 on the road. The Bulls outrebounded Washington 17-5 in the opening period despite the absences of center Joakim Noah and power forward Carlos Boozer.Rookie Jordan Crawford scored 27 points and played all 48 minutes for the Wizards, who have lost five straight and 12 of 13.McGee fell just short of the franchise record for blocks in a game. Manute Bol swatted 15 shots for the then-Bullets on Feb. 26, 1987. It was the most blocks a player has had against the Bulls in a regulation game.McGee achieved his triple-double with a dunk 18 seconds to play, after which he received a technical foul for hanging on the rim.Crawford heated up in the second quarter against the Bulls’ reserves, scoring 15 points in the period on 5-for-6 shooting and hit a jumper from the right wing that brought Washington within 47-46 with 1.1 seconds left in the half.Kurt Thomas sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer, putting the Bulls up 50-46 at the break. It was Thomas’ first 3-pointer since April 10, 2005.The Bulls pulled away with a 25-14 third period, highlighted by Deng’s 10 points. Bogans’ 3-pointer with 2:56 left put the Bulls up 71-55, its biggest advantage to that point.The Bulls have won 10 of their last 11 games and improved to 30-4 at home. Only San Antonio (31-3) had done better on their home floor.The Bulls played their third straight game without Boozer, who sprained his left ankle in a win over Charlotte on March 9. Boozer, who didn’t dress for the game, was seen limping toward the Bulls locker room before the game. A timetable for his return has not yet been established.Noah missed the game because of flu-like symptoms. Noah was sent home from the team’s shootaround on Tuesday morning after reporting that he wasn’t feeling well. The illness isn’t believed to be serious.The Wizards suited up just nine players, six of which were rookies. It could have been worse as John Wall’s availability was in question before warm-ups. Wall had some soreness in his foot, which was stepped on during Washington’s loss to Oklahoma City on Monday. Rashard Lewis (knee), Cartier Martin (knee), Josh Howard (knee), Andray Blatche (shoulder) and Nick Young (flu) were all unavailable.

NOTES—Only one team has gone 1-40 on the road since the NBA went to an 82-game schedule in 1967-68: the Sacramento Kings in 1990-91…..Legendary soul singer Aretha Franklin sat courtside for the game. She received a standing ovation from the crowd at the United Center after her image was flashed on the scoreboard while her famous song “Respect” was playing over the arena’s sound system.

MESA—Randy Wells gave up his first earned runs of the spring in a 4-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies before 10,246 fans at HoHoKam Stadium, but did a good job of pitching out of trouble – one of the few times he has had to pitch out of the stretch this spring.Wells (1-1, 1.29 ERA) went five innings, allowing three runs – two earned – on three hits with two strikeouts and a walk.After cruising through three innings to push his string to 12 innings without giving up an earned run, Carlos Gonzalez reached on a dribbler in front of the plate when Wells couldn’t get the ball out of his glove. After going to third on Jose Lopez’s single to right, Gonzalez scored on a sacrifice fly by Todd Helton.Then in the fifth his defense had a hand in it after a walk and single put runners on first and second. The runners advanced on a double steal when Colorado catcher Chris Iannetta stole third as Cubs catcher Geovany Soto threw behind him. Hernan Iribarren advanced to second on the throw to third.Pitcher Esmil Rogers followed with a sacrifice fly to left field with one out. Alfonso Soriano’s throw to the plate was wild and allowed both runners to score.Wells talked about how last year he had some confidence problems and that veteran catcher Koyie Hill talked to him about body language.Cubs second baseman Blake DeWitt, acquired last season in the Ted Lilly trade, continues to flounder in his battle with Jeff Baker, who went 1 for 2 with a walk against Oakland. DeWitt, who is hitting .176, didn’t get a ball out of the infield in four at-bats and also had his third error of the spring – a throwing error to first base.Rockies starter Esmil Rogers (1-0, 3.86 ERA) was impressive in trying to lock down the fifth spot in the rotation with Aaron Cook (shoulder tightness, ring finger) ailing.The right-hander allowed one hit and struck out three in his five innings. The only hit was by Carlos Pena, who was thrown out by left-fielder Carlos Gonzalez at second by 15 feet trying to stretch a single into a double.

PHOENIX—Brett Jackson, Tyler Colvin and Welington Castillo each homered to lead the split-squad Cubs to a 8-1 win over an Oakland Athletics split squad on Tuesday.Cubs right-hander Andrew Cashner, making his second start of the spring and fourth appearance, struggled a bit in the first inning, giving up a leadoff double to Coco Crisp and an RBI single to Daric Barton. Those were the only hits he gave up in 3 1-3 innings, although he did walk two and hit a batter.The Cubs rallied to take a 2-1 lead in the sixth on a leadoff homer by Jackson, who served as the DH, and a run-scoring single by catcher Max Ramirez.Colvin, the right fielder, and Castillo, who replaced Ramirez, hit back-to-back homers in the eighth. The Cubs put the game out of reach with four runs in the ninth.

Marian Hossa scored two power-play goals less than three minutes apart to ignite a five-goal outburst in the second period, and the Blackhawks rolled to a 6-3 win over the San Jose Sharks on Monday night.Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane each had a goal and an assist in the second as the Blackhawks snapped an 0-1-2 streak and moved into fourth place in the West with 84 points.Kane’s goal was the 100th of his career and capped a second-period scoring blitz that erased an early 2-1 deficit.Hossa’s goals were his 20th and 21st, giving him 20 or more in 11 straight seasons. He has points in 10 of his last 11 games, with nine goals and six assists in that span.Toews now has 71 points, a career high for the fourth-year forward. He has recorded points in 12 of his last 13 games, with 11 goals and 10 assists during the run.All of the Hawks marquee forwards clicked on Monday, including Patrick Sharp, who had a career-high four assists. Viktor Stalberg and Niklas Hjalmarsson also scored for the Blackhawks, who improved to 11-2-4 in their last 17 games.Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton and Logan Couture scored for the Sharks, who lost in regulation for just the fourth time in their last 25 games.Corey Crawford made 33 saves in his 15th straight start.San Jose’s Antti Niemi made his 25th consecutive start, but was replaced by Antero Niittymaki at 7:25 of the second after allowing four goals on 18 shots, and three goals on the last five he faced. Niittymaki stopped 14 of 16 shots.Pavelski opened the scoring 2:20 in with a 5-on-3 power-play goal from the right circle, but Stalberg evened it midway through the first when he batted in a rebound of Chris Campoli’s shot from mid-air.Thornton put the Sharks ahead 2-1 with 1:24 left in the first. Campoli and Troy Brouwer both converged on San Jose’s Patrick Marleau, and Marleau dished to Thornton, who broke in alone down the slot.The Blackhawks then reeled off four straight goals, and five overall in the second, to take a 6-3 lead after 40 minutes.The Hawks launched the onslaught when Hossa scored back-to-back power-play goals and Toews added an even-strength score in a 4:11 span early in the second.Hossa tied it 2-all 3:14 into the period when he cut to the edge of the crease and converted Sharp’s feed. Just under three minutes later, Hossa put the Blackhawks ahead 3-2 on a low shot from the slot.Toews finished a 2-on-1 with Kane by shooting himself, beating Niemi through the five-hole at 7:25 to make it 4-2. That prompted San Jose coach Todd McLellan to send in Niittymaki.The Hawks kept up the pressure and took a 5-2 lead with 5:31 left in the period when Hjalmarsson fired in a shot through traffic from the slot.Couture popped in a rebound off Crawford’s pad with 2:36 left in the second to cut it to 5-3, but Kane replied just 22 seconds later when he was left open in the slot.

NOTES—The five goals in the second were the most in a period for the Blackhawks this season, and the most against San Jose in a period this year…. Sharp tied a team record with four assists in one period. The last Blackhawks player to do it was Jim Pappin in 1973…..Brian Campbell missed his second game in the last three with a lower body injury…..Dave Bolland sat out his second contest with a concussion…..San Jose’s Kent Huskins and former Hawk Scott Nichol each missed their 10th game with upper-body injuries.

MILWAUKEE—The Rush opened its 2011 season with a 49-41 win on the road in Milwaukee. The victory over the rival Mustangs came in front of a large number of Rush fans who crossed the border to attend the evening’s match at the Bradley Center Monday night.The Rush won the opening coin toss but deferred until the second half. The Mustangs offense came out strong in the first quarter led by Milwaukee’s Eric Ward who took his team down the field quickly with a 48-yard scoring drive that was completed by a 20-yard touchdown pass to Damian Harrell.However, the Rush matched the score quickly when quarterback Russ Michna connected with former Western Illinois teammate, Reggie Gray for a 27-yard touchdown pass. Michna had six additional touchdown passes throughout the night and was named Russell Athletic Offensive Player of the Game.The Rush defense held strong and forced a failed Garrett Lindholm field goal attempt. After Lindholm’s missed field goal the Rush offense scored two additional touchdowns by the end of the first quarter. Michna connected with Charles Dillon for a 10-yard touchdown pass with 3:33 remaining in the first quarter and Reggie Gray also recorded his second touchdown reception of the night with 7-yard catch from Michna following Jason Simpson’s interception. The Rush scored three consecutive touchdowns before Ward and the Mustangs answered in the second quarter with 44-yard touchdown pass to Antoine Smith. Rush Fullback, Johnie Kirton had the first rushing play of the season for the team. Kirton quickly finished the drive with a 2-yard touchdown reception from Michna.A Rush pass interference penalty kept the Milwaukee offense alive, and allowed Ward to connect with Brent Holmes for a 6-yard touchdown pass with just over five minutes to play in the half. Following a fumble by Charles Dillon that was recovered by Marcus Everett with just three minutes to go in the half, Milwaukee converted on fourth down with four yards to go to keep the drive alive. Quarterback Eric Ward rushed for a first down before the Rush called a timeout with 44 seconds left on the clock. Ward continued to close the scoring gap by calling a five yard run play to score but Lindholm missed the PAT leaving the Rush with a 1 point command at the end of the first half.The Rush began the second half on the 13 yard line after Riddell Defensive Player of the Game, Jason Simpson returned the opening kick-off for the second half. Rush newcomer Joel Filani scored the touchdown from a Russ Michna pass.In the next drive, the Rush stopped the Mustangs on 4^{th and 1 yard to go. Vic Hall broke up the pass and the Rush took over on their own 16 yard line. In the next play Michna was sacked for the first time by Milwaukee for a loss of 10 yards. Despite, the sack the Rush gained a first down on an offside penalty by Milwaukee. Joel Filani caught a 10 yard pass for a first down to the Mustangs 23 yard line. Michna completed an 11 yard touchdown pass to his favorite receiver of the night, former Leatherneck Reggie Gray and Gould was on target for the PAT.Milwaukee started the fourth quarter with a fourth down and seven yards to go. That didn’t stop Milwaukee’s offense though as Ward completed a 44 yard touchdown pass to Holmes.The Rush began their return drive at the eight yard line. Michna completed a pass to Dillon, before pitching it to Marcus Waugh who earned the first down at the Milwaukee 17 yard line. However, Milwaukee’s defense stepped up and Kelvin Rogers intercepted Michna’s pass. However, the Mustangs were unable to capitalize on the Rogers interception.The Rush offense came back strong following the interception with a 10 yard Dillon touchdown reception.Reggie Scott continued the offensive drive for the Rush when he recovered a Milwaukee fumble on the 14 year line with just over seven minutes to go in the game.Milwaukee continued to drive and scored late with less than a minute to go on a 15-yard pass from Eric Ward to Harrell. They resumed play with an on-side kick that was recovered by the Rush’s Kelvin Morris with 53 seconds remaining on the game clock. Although still ahead on the scoreboard, the Rush were unable to drive the ball. The Rush failed to gain the first-down and forced a Gould 27 yard field goal attempt. The missed field goal was returned by Holmes to the 12 yard line but Joe Clermond sacked Ward for a loss of nine yards on the play ending the game with a 49-41 Rush victory.In evaluating his team, Rush Head Coach Bob McMillen stated ” I loved the way our guys played tonight. We had a couple of guys go down injured but other players stepped up.”We have a lot of work to do in a short amount of time to get ready for our home opener this Friday but I like that we got our first victory under our belt. It’s nice to start off the season with a win,” he continued.}

The Rush will open their tenth Arena Football season Monday night against the Milwaukee Mustangs at the Bradley Center. Kickoff is 6:30(CDT)with the webcast on www.arenarush.com set for 6:15pm. Thr Rush then plays it’s home opener at Allstate Arena this Friday evening against the Philadelphia Soul and former Coach Mike Hohensee with a 6:45 webcast.

GLENDALE—John Danks pitched five scoreless innings and Omar Vizquel hit a two-run homer to lead the White Sox to a 6-1 victory over a Los Angeles Dodgers split-squad.Danks allowed just one hit, struck out two and walked three in the longest outing for a White Sox pitcher this spring.The Dodgers, who also dropped a split-squad game in Las Vegas against the Cubs, lost more than one bat against Danks, who said the broken timber was a good sign that his left arm is gaining strength. Carlos Quentin hit his first spring homer for the White Sox, connecting against Hiroki Kuroda in the second. Vizquel went deep and Lastings Milledge had a sacrifice fly in a three-run fourth inning.Dodgers closer Jonathon Broxton, who struggled late last season, tossed a scoreless inning in his first appearance since he was shelled Thursday in a loss to the San Diego Padres.Justin Sellers hit an RBI double in the seventh for Los Angeles.

NOTES—Dodgers RHP John Ely is scheduled to start Monday against Texas at Surprise Stadium. RHPs Blake Hawksworth, Kenley Jansen and Lance Cormier also are scheduled to throw. The Rangers plan to counter with RHP Eric Hurley. … The White Sox are at home at Camelback Ranch against the San Diego Padres on Monday. Jake Peavy is scheduled to start against his old team. The Padres are expected to counter with RHP Aaron Harang. … With 3B Casey Blake sidelined by a muscle injury near the back of his rib cage, the Dodger took a look at prospect Pedro Baez against the White Sox. Baez went 1 for 3, a single in the seventh inning.

SCOTTSDALE—The Cubs split their squad in two different Cities,in separate States for the second straight day.This time they won both.Braden Looper pitched into the fourth inning in his first start of spring training and allowed a run on five hits as a Cubs split squad beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-5 Sunday.Out of baseball last year after having surgery to repair a torn meniscus after the 2009 season, Looper struck out two in 3 2-3 innings. He made relief appearances against the Rangers and Rockies before this start.Looper also helped his cause by going 2 for 2, including a RBI double in the fourth inning.Carlos Pena hit his second homer of the spring in the fourth off Arizona starter Daniel Hudson, who surrendered three hits, four runs – two earned – walked one and struck out 4 in 3 1-3 innings. The Cubs other split squad edged the Dodgers 4-3 in ten innings at Las Vegas as Carlos Zambrano gave up one run in five innings.

WASHINGTON — The Washington Capitals are no longer waiting for Alex Ovechkin to score. Their offense is getting help from a lot of places, a big reason the Capitals are on a roll.Mike Knuble was the latest player to step up when he scored with 1:09 left in overtime to give the Capitals their eighth straight victory, 4-3 over the Blackhawks on Sunday.Two of the Hawks goals could be classified as lucky since they came off fortunate bounces,otherwise they could have ended up with zero standing points instead of the one they got. Marcus Johansson got the puck between the circles, but instead of shooting, he quickly fed Knuble right in front of goalie Corey Crawford. Knuble deftly shifted the puck from left to right and flicked a shot past Crawford.The Blackhawks forced OT when Jonathan Toews stuffed the puck into the right corner on a power play with 38.5 seconds left in the third period.The Hawks got the power play when Johansson was called for hooking with 1:50 left. Coach Joel Quenneville quickly pulled Crawford to give the Blackhawks a two-man advantage.The Capitals then dominated play in OT. Ovechkin was all over the ice for a long stretch, and Washington outshot the Blackhawks 6-0.The Capitals moved to one point behind Philadelphia for the top spot in the Eastern Conference, and their Southeast Division lead over Tampa Bay increased to five points. The Capitals have 90 points and are trying for a fourth straight division title. They have 12 games left; the Lightning have 13.The Blackhawks have dropped three straight after winning eight in a row,but they did get two points out pf a possible six. Four different Capitals scored goals and nine players got points. Boyd Gordon, Jason Arnott and Brooks Laich had goals, while Dennis Wideman added two assists, including one on Knuble’s goal.Ovechkin didn’t score a point, but the Capitals still did fine.Eight of the nine players who registered points were forwards, and the Capitals had an advantage in size, an edge they often have over other teams.The Capitals’ winning streak is their longest since they set a franchise record with 14 straight victories from Jan. 13-Feb. 7 last year.The victory was Washington’s 40th, setting a club record with a fourth straight 40-win season.Defense and timely goals have been key to Washington’s streak. The Capitals have allowed just 12 goals during the eight games.Rookie goalie Braden Holtby has given the Capitals a boost. Holtby replaced an injured Michal Neuvirth after the first period in Tampa Bay on March 7. He won that game plus the next three.He’s given up only four goals in 11 periods since replacing Neuvirth and made 27 stops against the Blackhawks.This was the only meeting between the two teams this season.The Blackhawks got the game’s first five shots, kept the puck in the Washington zone for long stretches and took a 1-0 lead on Nick Leddy’s goal at 4:46 of the first period.The Capitals tied it 1:25 later on Gordon’s short-handed goal. Washington got a break when the puck eluded Patrick Sharp near the left point, bounced off the boards and right to Gordon, who took off on a breakaway and beat Crawford with a long slap shot.The Capitals took a 2-1 lead on Arnott’s power play goal with 53.7 seconds left in the period.Tomas Kopecky tied it early in the second period. Kopecky fired a shot at the goal from the left corner that somehow slid through Holtby’s legs, apparently bouncing off his back skate and in at 3:09.Laich gave the Capitals a 3-2 lead when he scored at 6:23 of the third period.The Capitals finished with a 42-30 advantage in shots and often controlled play.

NOTES—Gordon went 27 games without a goal; he’s now scored twice in five games…..The Capitals are the first team in NHL history to get seven or more victories from three goalies age 22 or younger……Marian Hossa’s eight-game point streak ended in the Hawks last game, but he started a new one with an assist…..Leddy’s goal was his first since Feb. 1.

Right from the start, Joakim Noah could sense it.Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were on hand to celebrate that first championship, so he knew this was no ordinary game.It was no ordinary performance, either.With the past champions watching, the Bulls again looked like they’re bent on claiming their own spot in franchise history.Derrick Rose and Luol Deng each scored 26 points, and the Bulls ran away with their 13th win in 15 games, all but grabbing a share of the Eastern Conference lead with an easy 118-100 victory over the Utah Jazz on Saturday.Al Jefferson had 33 points and 18 rebounds, Harris scored 24, but the Jazz fell for the 10th time in 13 games since Jerry Sloan stepped down as coach. It probably didn’t help that Paul Millsap missed his third straight game with tendinitis in his left knee, but either way, Utah has problems.The Jazz fell by 21 at Minnesota on Friday and were no match for the Central division champions.One night after a runaway win over Atlanta, the Bulls took control right after they took off their warmups.Rose followed up a strong finish against the Hawks with a big start, but the All-Star point guard wasn’t exactly a one-man show as the Bulls built that 37-17 lead.Deng scored seven in the period.Noah scored six points as the Bulls jumped out to an 11-0 lead, starting with a dunk on the opening possession.The Jazz, meanwhile, missed their first five shots before Jeremy Evans ended the drought with a dunk, but the Bulls simply couldn’t be stopped in the early going.They led by as much as 31 early in the third before the Jazz pulled within 13 in the fourth quarter, and although Tom Thibodeau wasn’t thrilled with the defense in the second half, the Bulls still put on quite a show.The loudest cheers were for Jordan during that halftime ceremony, and he couldn’t resist predicting six more championships for the Bulls.

NOTES—The Bulls previous record for 3-pointers was 15 against Miami on Dec. 30, 1994…..The Bulls also set season-highs for points in the first quarter and in the first half (68).