Piniella takes blame for Cubs’ fall

Steve Zeigler finished off Dan Woltman from Wisconsin in 22 holes to advance to the quarterfinals of the US Amateur Championships at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. Zeigler, a junior at Stanford, advances to face Byeong-Hun An of South Korea, who needed two extra holes to beat Mike Van Sickle. The other quarterfinals pit fourth-seeded Ben Martin against Arkansas senior David Lingmerth, Oklahoma State sophomore Peter Uihlein against Texas senior Charlie Holland, and Fresno State freshman Bhavik Patel against Phillip Mollica, Martin’s former teammate at Clemson. Martin is the only one of the top 20 qualifiers to reach the final eight . . . Andrew Giuliani, the son of New York City’s former mayor Rudolph Giuliani, won his first outing as a professional golfer at the 94th Met Open. Giuliani scored a final-round 71 for a 3-under-par total at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J. He earned $27,500 out of the total purse of $150,000. The Met Open, played annually since 1905, has been won by Walter Hagen, Byron Nelson, and Gene Sarazen.

American Sam Querrey, who had 15 aces, upset top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, to advance to the semifinals of the Pilot Pen tournament in New Haven. Davydenko needed a doctor to look at his right wrist midway through the match. He said it became sore from the force of Querrey’s serves hitting his racket. Second-seed Fernando Verdasco had no problems in his quarterfinal, ousting Jurgen Melzer in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1. Igor Andreev also moved into the semifinals with a three-set win, 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, over Leonardo Mayer. Earning a spot in the women’s semifinals were Amelie Mauresmo, who upset top seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, 7-6 (11-9), 2-6, 6-3, and Elena Vesnina, who beat Anna Chakvetadze in straight sets, 6-1, 7-5. Defending women’s champion Caroline Wozniacki beat Virginie Razzano in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. Wozniacki will play Flavia Pennetta today. Pennetta beat qualifier Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia, 6-2, 6-2.

Tamika Catchings had 20 points and eight rebounds as the host Indiana Fever beat the San Antonio Silver Stars, 77-66, tying a franchise record with their 13th consecutive home win. San Antonio guard Becky Hammon, the No. 2 scorer in the league, was held without a point in 32 minutes . . . Cappie Pondexter had 26 points and six assists, Diana Taurasi added 20 points and the first-place Phoenix Mercury defeated host Los Angeles, 98-90, ending the Sparks’ six-game winning streak . . . Sue Bird scored 21 points to lead the Storm past the Connecticut Sun, 86-74, in Seattle to earn their sixth consecutive playoff berth . . . Deanna Nolan scored 29 points and the host Detroit Shock won their fourth straight, beating the Atlanta Dream, 87-83.

World 100- and 200-meter champion Usain Bolt is also fixing his sights on the long jump. “I definitely want to try the long jump,’’ the triple Olympic gold medalist told a news conference in Zurich. “I’ve messed around with the long jump since I’ve been at school and I’m definitely going to give it a try.’’ American Mike Powell, whose long jump world record of 8.95 meters has stood since the 1991 world championships, said last week that Bolt could jump 9 meters in the event. Bolt said he had not yet discussed the long jump seriously with his coach or set a date for when he could take up the event . . . Southern Cal named true freshman Matt Barkley, the nation’s most coveted high school player, its starting quarterback . . . Former Kentucky basketball coach Billy Gillispie was arraigned on a drunken driving charge after refusing sobriety tests during an early-morning traffic stop in Lawrenceburg, Ky. Gillispie was fired by the university in March . . . St. Louis Blues defenseman and captain Eric Brewer has undergone arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in what the team termed a minor setback for a player rehabbing from two back operations.