Allgemeines » probably will end up wiith 400 to 500 plate appearances.

S-HERTOGENBOSCH, Netherlands -- Benjamin Becker of Germany reached his first ATP semifinals in almost 2 1/2 years when he beat the equally desperate Vasek Pospisil of Canada 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5), 6-4 at the rainy Topshelf Open on Thursday. Becker, who won his only ATP title here in 2009, was leading in the second set when their quarterfinal was interrupted for 90 minutes by rain. It didnt help Pospisil, who has been dealing with a lower back strain and lost for the 10th time in 13 matches since the Australian Open. In his first semi since Memphis in February 2012, Becker will face Joao Sousa, the Portuguese qualifier who put away Dutch wild card Thiemo de Bakker 6-4, 6-2. Meanwhile, second seed Fernando Verdasco of Spain and eighth seed Jurgen Melzer of Austria were stopped by darkness at 6-7 (3), 7-6 (6). Melzer double-faulted at 6-6 and Verdasco finished the second set with an ace to tie the set score. On the womens side, Klara Koukalova of the Czech Republic, who won her first tournament here in 2005, dispatched Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 6-2 6-4. She will face Coco Vandeweghe after the American qualifier defeated seventh seed Garbine Muguruza of Spain 7-6 (3), 6-1. The other semi features Zheng Jie of China against Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia, both winners of four titles on tour. Garrett Richards Padres Jersey . -- The Jacksonville Jaguars are bringing back quarterback Chad Henne -- and making him the starter. Matt Strahm Padres Jersey . - A lot of scenarios ran through Terrell Suggs head when the Baltimore linebacker prepared to face the Pittsburgh Steelers. http://www.padressale.com/padres-rollie-fingers-jersey/ .C. - Alberta prop Andrew Tiedemann will captain Canada against Uruguay on Friday, the opening day of competition at the IRB Americas Rugby Championship. Hunter Renfroe Padres Jersey . The Mavericks were not going to let San Antonio beat them with 3-pointers, and they did not want Tony Parker using the lane as his personal playground. Aaron Loup Jersey . You can, too, Clay Buchholz, if we ignore the sixth inning of Game 2. Doug Fister and Jake Peavy, youre up next in Game 4 and theres a lot to live up to. OAKLAND, Calif. -- Keeping active in the trade market, the Oakland Athletics acquired right-handed reliever Luke Gregerson from the San Diego Padres for outfielder Seth Smith. It marked the second swap of the day for the two-time defending AL West champion As and third in two days. Gregerson will join a bullpen with new closer Jim Johnson, acquired from Baltimore on Monday night. Dealing Smith became a viable option when general manager Billy Beane acquired Craig Gentry from division rival Texas earlier Tuesday. Gregerson went 6-8 with a 2.71 ERA and four saves in 73 relief outings for the Padres in 2013. Smith batted .253 with eight home runs and 40 RBIs in 117 games in his second season with the As. The Padres have plenty of outfielders, including Carlos Quentin, Cameron Maybin, Will Venable, Chris Denorfia and Alexi Amarista, who had been primarily an infielder. Quentin and Maybin missed significant time with injuries last season. Padres general manager Josh Byrnes said Smith could play left or right field, and probably will end up wiith 400 to 500 plate appearances.dddddddddddd Smith will allow the Padres to match up better against right-handers and have a more viable bat in the lineup when Quentin needs days off due to his balky knees. "Obviously he did a great job this past year and hit lefties better than he ever has, which is a good thing," Byrnes said of Smith. "We liked our offence for a year, kind of from All-Star break to All-Star break. Injuries last year, toward the end of the year we werent scoring runs. The reality is, were coming off a year where we asked Venable and Denorfia to do more than they ever have. We asked Amarista to play a lot in the outfield. We extended Quentin and Maybin. "I dont think weve overdone it by acquiring Smith, but we just want to make sure that if there is an injury or two, that we dont have such a dropoff, that were still showing up every night, especially against right-handed pitching, and able to score runs," Byrnes added. Byrnes said the Padres might be looking to add a reliever or two, or could move some starters to the bullpen. ' ' '