Dellavedova, generously listed at 6-foot-4, did all he could t

MINNEAPOLIS - A second-straight Thursday start unfolded in close to the same fashion for struggling knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. Four scoreless innings, a 0-0 tie, only to have things come undone in the fifth. Last week in a loss to Houston, it was a Robbie Grossman fifth inning home run that broke the goose egg. Thursday afternoon, ultimately a 7-0 loss to Minnesota, it was a one-out single by Brian Dozier which led to six-straight Twins reaching base (five hits, one walk), five of whom scored to prematurely end Dickeys day. He teetered throughout, pitching out of jams in the first and fourth, before the dam burst. "I would get count and then really try to finish guys and they would do a good job of laying off really good pitches," said Dickey. "I thought I got squeezed there a couple of pitches but outside of that it was one of those days where youre just not putting the whole game together." Most troubling is the walk total. Dickey issued five more free passes, bringing his season total to 15 in 23 innings, second-most in all of baseball behind Philadelphias A.J. Burnett. "Its certainly moving better at this point, believe it or not, than it was last year," said Dickey. "I feel like over the course of the season, like Ive got 190 innings left, so I truly believe all the peripheral numbers are going to even out." "I mean its pretty amazing you keep that thing in the zone, period," said manager John Gibbons. "He battles that. Thats a lot for him and hell cut down on those, Ive got no doubt about that but you think about it, to be able to throw that thing in the strike zone is pretty tough as it is. But theres no question thats been hurting him." Dickey admitted to being miffed with home plate umpire Chris Gucciones strike zone. At times he was the beneficiary, most notably on a full count, called third strike on Minnesotas Chris Colabello in the first, which stranded a runner at third base. He thought he had Jason Kubel struck out twice in the fifth, got neither call, and Kubel singled home Minnesotas second run. "Im letting some external something impact the inning," said Dickey. "Whether its a ball that I thought should have been a strike or a ball that gets through a hole but were fortunate the other guys are going well. This wont remain this way. Its just tough to weather." Gibbons tried to let Dickey work out of the fifth but after the Kubel single, Josmil Pinto cracked a double off the wall in left-centre that scored two. "Dickeys our guy, its early," said Gibbons. "Hes here to get out of those innings and win games." "I really respect that," said Dickey. "Im appreciative of the opportunity to let me get through the fifth there. I take great pride in trying to go at least six innings in every start and so far this year in two of my four I havent been able to do that and hes given me every opportunity. As the season progresses those decisions, Ill make those pay off for him." Dickey threw a higher number of fastballs than usual. According to BrooksBaseball.net, 25 of his 112 pitches were fastballs, which he didnt attribute the cool conditions - the temperature was zero Celsius at first pitch. "It wasnt ideal but it wasnt something where I was coming in trying to soak my fingers in warm water to try to keep them warm," said Dickey. "I just didnt execute when I needed to make a big pitch and they put good swings on it." "I think it was just trying to balance the velocity of the knuckleball with the fastball so youre trying to throw a few more mid-count fastballs just to try to get them off of (the knuckleball,)" said catcher Josh Thole. Dickeys ERA ballooned from 5.30 to 6.26 in the loss. He dropped to 1-3 on the season, a decision in each start, each decision accurately reflecting the quality of his outing. The Jays starting staff, combined, has a 4.06 ERA through 15 games. 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Azarenka needed exactly one hour in a 6-1, 6-0 rout of Austrian Yvonne Meusburger to start the night session at Laver Arena. Sharapova had a much easier time earlier in the day with cooler conditions and took full advantage in 6-1, 7-6 (8-6) win over Frenchwoman Alize Cornet, while Radwanska had to rally for a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Nmd r2 Herren Schweiz . A receiver doesnt make the catch on a passing play and instantly motions to the ref – and everybody else – for a pass interference flag.CLEVELAND -- As the score tightened, Kevin Durant stayed loose. Sitting in his warm-ups on Oklahoma Citys bench, Durant knew he might be called upon again. And when he was, the NBAs leading scorer closed out Cleveland. "My minds always on the game so I didnt space out," he said. "I was instantly ready." Durant scored 35 points, finding his shooting touch after a rough start, and made five free throws in the final minute to shut down a furious, fourth-quarter comeback and give the Thunder their 50th win, 102-95 over the injury-riddled Cavaliers on Thursday night. Durant missed five of his first six shots, but finally got it going. He has scored 25 or more in 33 straight games -- the leagues longest streak since Michael Jordan did it 40 consecutive times (1986-87). With the win, the Thunder, who let a 24-point lead dwindle to five in the fourth, moved within 1 1/2 games of San Antonio for the best record in the Western Conference. Oklahoma City played without point guard Russell Westbrook, who rested his surgically repaired knee. Dion Waiters scored 30 and Spencer Hawes 20 for the Cavs, who trailed 95-71 with 6:34 left before going on a 21-2 run to pull within 97-92. Durant, though, who had re-entered with 3:34 to go, made his free throws to end Clevelands rally. When he took a seat after three quarters, Durant figured his night was done. "But that can happen in this league," Durant said. "Guys have pride and Cleveland plays extremely hard, so those guys made it a game late and we had to close it out." Cleveland played without injured star guard Kyrie Irving (strained biceps) and forward Luol Deng (sprained ankle). Durants performance came two nights after LeBron James dropped 43 points on Cleveland, which lost its season-high fourth straight at home and has seen its playoff chances disappear. Durant added 11 rebounds and six assists, his biggest to Serge Ibaka for a dunk with 1:54 left after the Cavs had closed within eight. With the Thunder ahead by 17 entering the fourth, Durant grabbed a seat after scoring 30 in 32 minutes. Oklahoma Citys reserves were having their way with the Cavs, but Cleveland quickly reeled off 11 in a row, forcing Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks to bring Durant back. Waiters steal and layup got Cleveland within five, but the Thunder made sure the ball went to Durant, who then put it away at the linee.dddddddddddd But not before the Thunder had their nerves frayed. "You hate to talk about the last few minutes," Brooks said. "So Im not going to." Reggie Jackson started for Westbrook and added 13 points. Derek Fisher had 12 and Jeremy Lamb 10. Durant had a very un-Durant-like start. He started 1-of-6 from the field and grew more and more agitated with every missed shot. Late in the first quarter, Durant, who had complained to the officials about not getting a call on a drive, grabbed an offensive rebound, dunked in frustration and got called for a technical. "I just dont care if I miss," Durant said. "I had it in my mind that I was going to start the game off 1 for 10. Thats how quickly it can change, man. I thought I might be in for a tough shooting night, but I always stay aggressive." With Deng, Clevelands top wing defender, out and down to just nine dressed players, Cavs coach Mike Brown knew his team would struggle to handle the multifaceted Durant. And when Alonzo Gee picked up his second personal foul less than two minutes into the game, Brown brought in pesky guard Matthew Dellavedova to guard the leagues leading scorer. Dellavedova, generously listed at 6-foot-4, did all he could to pester Durant and it worked -- for a while. "He didnt get under my skin," Durant said. "He plays hard, you can respect a player like that but I didnt pay him any attention" Brown was proud of the job Dellavedova did on Durant. "One thing Dellys going to do for sure is fight," Brown said. "Hes going to get up in your chest and hes going to bother you, hes going to show his hands so hes not going to foul you. He makes you work for points." NOTES: Brooks has been impressed with Caron Butler, who has played in eight games since signing with Oklahoma City on March 1. Scott said Butler is tough, experienced and fearless. "He can make shots and hes not afraid to take shots," Brooks said. "We like that." ... OKC centre Kendrick Perkins (left groin strain) missed his 12th consecutive game and G Thabo Sefolosha (left calf strain) sat out his ninth straight. ... Brown boycotted filling out an NCAA bracket because Butler, where his son Elijah plays, didnt make the field. "Its my own protest," Brown joked. "Im loyal." ... Dellavedova had 11 points and 10 assists. ' ' '