LONDON—The Americans got a scare.Two days after running and gunning to a record-shattering 83-point win, the U.S. men’s Olympic basketball team had to come back in the fourth quarter for a 99-94 win over a fearless Lithuania team that had the world’s best squad in serious trouble until the closing minutes. LeBron James scored 9 of his 20 points in the final four minutes for the U.S. (4-0), which had looked nearly invincible in thrashing Nigeria 156-73 on Thursday night and breaking several records. But the Americans were reminded that the path to the gold medal is loaded with traps and Lithuania nearly sprang one. Carmelo Anthony added 20 points, Kevin Durant 16 and Chris Paul added seven rebounds, six assists and four of the U.S. team’s 17 steals.Linas Kleiza scored 25 to lead Lithuania, which led by 84-82 with 5:50 to play. After the U.S. took a three-point lead, Lithuania would not go away and pulled within 87-86 on Darius Songaila’s bucket with 4:12 left.That’s when James, who has already won an MVP trophy and NBA title this year, took control.He knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key, and after Paul stole the inbounds pass, James took a pass down the right side and delivered one of his trademark dunks, a basket that brought the American players off the bench and seemed to restore world basketball order.After a basket by Deron Williams — on a possession Paul kept alive with an offensive rebound — James followed a Lithuania turnover with a left-handed layup, giving the U.S. a 97-88 lead and allowed the Americans to remain unbeaten — though no longer untested.And no longer compaired as much to the 1992 ‘Dream Team’ which never was challenged like this.

LOS ANGELES—Even when they had good teams,the Cubs have traditionally had problems at Dodger Stadium.Friday night was no different.Now that Chad Billingsley’s elbow problems appear to be behind him, the Los Angeles Dodgers are expecting their chances of winning the NL West title to be that much better.Billingsley won his third straight start since coming off the disabled list and batterymate A.J. Ellis had two solo homers and an RBI single, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 6-1 victory over the Cubs on Friday night.Billingsley (7-9) allowed a run and four hits in seven innings, struck out seven and walked two. The right-hander lost five consecutive starts with a 6.21 ERA during a stretch before going on the disabled list and missing a turn in the rotation because of elbow pain. Since then, he’s allowed just two runs in 20 1/3 innings.

“He felt like he didn’t need to go on in the first place, but I think sometimes you’re body’s telling you something,” manager Don Mattingly said. “That pain was basically letting him know that he needed to miss that one start. Just giving him those days off really allowed that thing to calm down. It wasn’t anything big, but it was big enough to be causing pain and fluid. Obviously that time off has allowed him to be sharper. He’s been going deep in every game and he’s throwing strikes.”

Billingsley, in the second year of a four-year contract that will pay him more than $41 million, had been 0-4 with a 4.70 ERA in his previous eight starts at Dodger Stadium since beating Pittsburgh 4-1 in his first home start of the season on April 11. This is the eighth time in his eight-year career that he has won as many as three straight starts, but he has never won more than four starts in a row.

“Mainly he’s just been attacking the strike zone, using his fastball on both sides of the plate and getting ahead in the count. As simple as that sounds, he’s been doing it,” Ellis said. “Righties, lefties, it doesn’t matter. And he’s mixing in his off-speed stuff, which makes his fastball that much more devastating.”

Jeff Samardzija (7-9) gave up five runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings without walking a batter and struck out three. The former Notre Dame wide receiver had a 1.91 ERA over his previous five starts after surrendering nine runs over 4 1/3 innings in a 17-1 loss to the New York Mets on June 27 at Wrigley Field.Darwin Barney, who sat out Wednesday’s game for precautionary reasons after getting hit in the head by Pittsburgh’s A.J. Burnett on Tuesday night, reached on an infield hit with one out in the fifth after Ellis fielded the swinging bunt about 10 feet up the third base line and pulled first baseman James Loney off the bag with his hurried throw. Luis Valbuena tied the score 1-all with an RBI double inside first base with Loney playing even with the bag.The Dodgers regained the lead in the bottom half with two runs, after Hanley Ramirez beat the Cubs’ defensive shift with a grounder through the hole vacated by second baseman Barney and legged out a double. Ramirez scored the go-ahead run on Loney’s double and Ellis added an RBI single to go along with his third-inning homer. He added his 10th home run in the seventh, an opposite-field drive against Manny Corpas.Ramirez, who is 8-for-15 lifetime against Samardzija, increased the margin to 5-1 in the sixth with a two-run single that chased the right-hander. In nine games since joining the Dodgers in a trade from Miami, Ramirez is 9 for 35 with 10 RBI.

“Tonight my splitter was just up and wasn’t very consistent, but I thought I pitched around it all right,” Samardzija said. “I threw some good fastballs and my slider was real good. There were a couple of mistakes on my part — leaving that leaving that splitter up to Ellis in the second, leaving the ball over the plate to Hanley in the sixth. Things like that make a difference in the game.”

NOTES—Mattingly won’t decide when RHP Joe Blanton will make his first start for them until he joins his new club on Saturday, following Friday’s trade with Philadelphia. The deal took on some urgency after former Cub Ted Lilly was scratched from his scheduled rehab outing with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga on Friday night. Lilly hasn’t pitched for Los Angeles since May 23 because of inflammation in his shoulder….Barney tied Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg’s franchise record for consecutive errorless games in one season by a second baseman with his 90th. Sandberg carried his streak into the 1990 season before it ended at 123….Ramirez made his first start at SS for the Dodgers after starting his first eight games with them at 3B. He played exclusively at SS last season with the Marlins, but shifted to third after they got Jose Reyes from the Mets in the offseason. Once the Dodgers get Dee Gordon back from the DL, Ramirez will be back at third…..Cubs RHP Alberto Cabrera faced one batter in his major league debut, striking out Luis Cruz with a runner at second to end the sixth. He signed with them as a non-drafted free agent in July 2005, and was promoted on Wednesday from Triple-A.

Alex Rios hit his second homer of the game, connecting for a two-run shot in the 10th inning Friday night that lifted the White Sox over the Los Angeles Angels 8-6.Rios also hit a solo homer as the White Sox won their third in a row. The Angels lost their third straight, with starter Zack Greinke roughed up in his second start since being acquired from Milwaukee.Angels manager Mike Scioscia played the game under protest after a baserunning call went against his team in the first inning.Adam Dunn singled off Hisanori Takahashi (0-3) to open the 10th. Pinch runner Jordan Danks stole second with one out before Rios hit his 18th home run.Matt Thornton (4-6) pitched a scoreless 10th for the win.A.J. Pierzynski’s three-run homer highlighted a four-run first. It was his career-high 19th home run, one more than he hit in 2005.Albert Pujols hit his fifth home run in four games for the Angels. Mike Trout also connected for Los Angeles.Greinke allowed six runs and 10 hits over seven innings. Alejandro De Aza doubled home Alexei Ramirez in the seventh to make it 6-all. De Aza and Ramirez had three hits apiece.Scioscia argued a call in the first and then played the game under protest.With the bases loaded and no outs, Paul Konerko hit a grounder to third base. After getting the out at home, catcher Chris Iannetta threw wide to first, pulling Pujols off the bag.Scioscia contended that Konerko was not within the base line for the last 45 feet. The umpires convened and upheld the safe call, bringing Scioscia back out for another discussion. After a second umpire meeting, Konerko was still ruled safe, prompting Scioscia’s decision to play under protest.The play loomed large as Pierzynski homered with two outs.Trout hit a two-run homer, his 19th, in the second. Pujols hit his 23rd in the sixth, a solo drive that chased a struggling Phil Humber.

NOTES—The White Sox sent RHP Chris Devenski to Houston as the player to be named to complete the July 21 trade for RHP Brett Myers. … The Spx signed OF Dewayne Wise to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Charlotte. Wise was released by the Yankees on July 31. He is renowned in White Sox lore for a remarkable ninth-inning catch to preserve Mark Buehrle’s perfect game in 2009. … Ervin Santana (5-10, 5.97 ERA) will start Saturday for the Angels against Gavin Floyd (8-9, 4.28). … White Sox manager Robin Ventura announced LHP Chris Sale (arm fatigue) will pitch Monday. Sale last pitched July 27 in Texas. … Angels RHP Dan Haren will pitch on Sunday. Haren was scratched from his Wednesday start due to back stiffness.

MINNEAPOLIS—Jake Peavy’s strong start for the White Sox reached a critical point with runners at the corners and Twins All-Star Joe Mauer at the plate.After paying Peavy a visit, Robin Ventura liked what he heard – and what he saw after their talk.Peavy struck out eight over eight smooth innings, Alejandro De Aza hit a go-ahead infield single off Scott Diamond’s leg in the eighth and the White Sox beat Minnesota 3-2 on Wednesday.Mauer popped out to end the eighth with speedsters Denard Span on third and Ben Revere on first. Ventura said he wasn’t sure if he’d leave Peavy in when he walked from the dugout to the mound. He wanted to make sure Peavy was still comfortable facing Mauer, the three-time American League batting champion, in that situation.Peavy (9-7) allowed five hits and walked two. He said he was confident against Mauer, based on the way he’d pitched to him previously.One of the runs Peavy gave up was unearned, due to a way-wide token pickoff throw to second base in the first inning that sailed into center field. The miscue let Revere move to third, and he scored on Mauer’s groundout.Danny Valencia homered in the second, but Peavy toughened up after that to lower his ERA to 3.04 and notch just his third victory since May.Addison Reed pitched a shaky-but-scoreless ninth for his 18th save in 21 attempts and the White Sox improved to 9-1 in their last 10 one-run games. They have won seven of nine overall.
“Just wanted to make it more interesting,” Reed said, smiling.
Brian Dozier flied out to end the game with runners on second and third.
“That’s part of being a closer. I don’t think it can always be clean,” Ventura said. “He’s used to it. It doesn’t seem to affect him, even in big games when it doesn’t seem to go so well.”
Diamond (9-5) had one out in the eighth inning with Tyler Flowers on third when De Aza hit a sharp liner that glanced off Diamond’s thigh. The right-hander was a bit stunned, and his short throw home was well off target as Flowers scored the go-ahead run.De Aza created his own run after leading off the game with a single, moving up on a stolen base, a groundout and Adam Dunn’s sacrifice fly. Flowers almost hit into an inning-ending double play in the fifth after a diving stop by Dozier, but the shortstop had trouble getting the ball out of his glove and Flowers beat the relay throw to first as Alex Rios scored the tying run.The AL Central-leading White Sox began the first day of the month 2 1/2 games ahead of Detroit. This is the fifth time since 2000 that they have started August in first place, and including their 2005 World Series title they made the playoffs in three of the previous four.They’re in good shape to go again, with the addition of Francisco Liriano to a rotation deepened this year by youngsters Chris Sale and Jose Quintana and stabilized by Peavy’s return to good health.
“One thing with the Whities: They have a good pitching staff, and you’re going to face some tough pitchers. Doesn’t matter which one they throw out there, including Liriano. It’s going to be a battle scoring runs,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.
Bothered by an elbow injury in 2008, an ankle problem in 2009 and shoulder trouble in 2010 and 2011, Peavy is back on track. This was his 21st start of 2012, his most since 27 turns in 2008 for San Diego. The 2007 National League Cy Young Award winner made a total of only 51 starts in the majors over the three seasons prior to this one.
NOTES—The White Sox are off Thursday before beginning a nine-game homestand by hosting the Los Angeles Angels of Anahiem on Friday.Phil Humber (5-5, 5.90 ERA) pitches for the White Sox against Zack Greinke, who will make his second start for the Angels. … Liriano will make his second start for the White Sox on Sunday, followed by Peavy on Monday. Sale will pitch Tuesday with 10 days of rest, and Quintana will throw Wednesday after an eight-day break while the White Sox use a six-man rotation to protect their young pitchers from overuse. … The Twins start a four-game series in Boston on Thursday. RHP Samuel Deduno (2-0, 3.13 ERA), coming off his strongest of four starts this season, faces LHP Jon Lester (5-8, 5.49). … The White Sox have drawn only two walks and committed seven errors in their last four games.

The Pirates were clinging to a one-run lead. Then, in a flash, this one became a breeze.Michael McKenry and Starling Marte homered to back a strong start by Jeff Karstens, and Pittsburgh pulled away to beat the Cubs 8-4 on Wednesday.Garrett Jones added two hits and drove in three runs after entering in the eighth as a pinch-hitter. Andrew McCutchen chipped in with two hits and scored three times, and the Pirates broke this one open late.They rebounded from a lopsided loss on Monday to take two of three from the Cubs. Now, after a day off, they’ll head to Cincinnati for a three-game series with the NL Central-leading Reds.As for this game, the Pirates were leading 2-1 going into the eighth when this one got out of hand. They started the onslaught with seven straight hits against Shawn Camp and sent 10 batters to the plate in a five-run outburst.Jones, batting for Gaby Sanchez, drove in two with a single and McKenry made it 7-1 with a three-run drive to left — his 10th homer.McKenry connected, and the Pirates could breathe a little easier.That late burst aside, it was a rather quiet day at Wrigley Field after a wild one on Tuesday. Not only did the Cubs trade pitcher Ryan Dempster to Texas before the non-waiver deadline, A.J. Burnett took a no-hitter into the eighth inning for Pittsburgh.Karstens (4-2) wasn’t quite as dominant, but he sure was good. He allowed three hits and one run over five innings, striking out four and walking one.He settled down after Starlin Castro’s solo homer to left in the first and retired 10 of the final 11 batters he faced.Travis Wood (4-7) was a tough-luck loser and dropped his fourth straight start after winning four in a row. He gave up two runs and three hits over five innings, but two plays in the third cost him.First, he gave up a leadoff homer to Marte. Then, the left-hander balked in another run to make it 2-1.Otherwise, Wood pitched well enough, but the Cubs couldn’t get anything going until the ninth. The Pirates brought in closer Joel Hanrahan with an 8-1 lead and he gave up three runs, including a two-run homer by Welington Castillo. But the game was well in hand after Camp got knocked around.
NOTES—Sanchez started at first and was 0 for 2 with a walk in his Pirates debut. He was acquired from Florida before Tuesday’s trade deadline and was looking forward to a fresh start. “I think it will be good coming over here,” said Sanchez, who entered with a .202 batting average. “A relaxed coaching staff. A relaxed team. Everybody wants to have fun.” The past few days have been eventful for Sanchez. Along with the trade there was the birth of his daughter on Friday….The Pirates optioned pitcher Daniel McCutchen to Triple-A Indianapolis to make room on the roster for reliever Chad Qualls….The Cubs optioned RHP Casey Coleman to Triple-A Iowa and recalled right-handers Chris Volstad and Alberto Cabrera from the minor league club. Volstad and Cabrera were available out of the bullpen, although Volstad could fill a hole in the rotation…..The Cubs held Darwin Barney out of the lineup after he got hit in the helmet by a pitch from Burnett in the eighth on Tuesday. “I don’t think it’s anything major, but obviously, he got hit in the head,” manager Dale Sveum said. “There was some ringing in his ear, but he’s fine today.”  Baker, starting for Barney, came up clutching his glove hand after he dove on the right-field grass to stop a leadoff single in the seventh. “No one really likes to roll up over their wrist,” said Baker, who stayed in the game. “When I first did it, it kind of grabbed a little bit and was pretty stiff there, but it got better as it went on.” Baker had two hits and a career-high two steals.