Sveum said Dempster will start Saturday

 WASHINGTON -- During another seven grueling hours of cross-examination that frustrated all sides, Roger Clemens accuser explained the evidence he kept in a beer can -- and why his story about it has changed. . Brian McNamee was on the stand Thursday for a fourth day in the perjury trial of the seven-time Cy Young Award-winning pitcher, holding firm to his testimony that he injected Clemens with steroids from 1998 to 2001 and human growth hormone in 2000. But Clemens longtime strength coach again conceded that his memory of some details has evolved over the years, and that he initially told some lies during the drugs-in-baseball investigation conducted by federal agents and former Sen. George Mitchell. Whether the jurors were still keeping track is another matter: They again expressed concern about the agonizingly slow pace of a trial that still has weeks to go, and the judge opined that Clemens lawyer was "confusing everybody." "At this pace," U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said, "Ill guess well be here forever." Clemens lawyer Rusty Hardin tried to exploit McNamees inconsistencies, even if it meant taking the case far afield from the principal issue of whether Clemens actually used performance-enhancing drugs. The former baseball star is accused of lying when he testified to Congress in 2008 that he never used steroids or HGH. The days testimony ended at a tantalizing moment. After some 19 hours on the stand, McNamee was being challenged by Hardin over the needle and other waste kept in a Miller Lite can after a steroids injection McNamee said he gave Clemens in 2001. The government is expected to show the waste contains Clemens DNA. McNamee indicated to Congress in 2008 that he kept the evidence primarily because he was starting to distrust Clemens, but he told the jury earlier this week he kept it because his wife had starting nagging him to do something to protect himself from being a fall guy in case he ever got caught. McNamee said Thursday he had hoped to keep his wife out of the story. His change of heart came as he and his wife are going through a contentious divorce. "Now shes involved," McNamee said, "shes got to take responsibility for her action." McNamee said the beer can came from the recycling bin in Clemens apartment, while conceding that hed never seen Clemens drink a light beer. Hardin insinuated that McNamee manufactured the evidence after Clemens televised denials of steroids use. "All of a sudden, the person being accused is fighting back," Hardin said, "and you have to figure out some way to save yourself." Hardins aim is to portray McNamee as a serial liar, and he appeared to have some success this day. "Did you ever tell Sen. Mitchell that you injected Roger Clemens approximately four times in the rear over a two-week period in 1998?" Hardin asked. "Thats possible," McNamee answered. "If you did tell him ... would that be a lie?" Hardin asked. "Yes, it would," said McNamee, who testified this week that he injected Clemens about eight to 10 times during Clemens 1998 season with the Toronto Blue Jays. McNamee again maintained that he had minimized the number of shots to try to help out Clemens. "I wanted to make it not look like he was a bigger steroids user than he was. ... I never lied about the usage, just amounts," he said. There were several similar exchanges. Hardin also displayed a calendar to show that a 1998 pool party at former slugger Jose Cansecos house was on a Tuesday; McNamee has always remembered it taking place on a Saturday. McNamee then went back and forth trying to place the date he gave Clemens wife an HGH shot at the Clemens home in Texas -- switching from the 2003-04 off-season to the 2002-03 off-season. "I could be confused," McNamee said. "Im getting handed a lot of dates." But its an open question whether the lawyers scattershot approach -- leapfrogging from topic to topic with complex questions that evoke frequent objections from the government -- will pay dividends with the jury. A serious trial that could end up sending one of baseballs all-time greats to prison was peppered with exchanges Thursday that sounded more like a situation comedy. There was one exchange in which Hardin wanted to know why McNamee didnt tip off Clemens after being contacted by federal authorities. McNamee said Clemens never asked. Hardin: "How could he ask if he didnt know?" McNamee: "How could I answer if he didnt ask?" Hardin: "Youre serious?" At another point, when Hardin was switching topics at a fast and furious pace, McNamee turned his palms up and said: "Youre going from articles to emails -- Im trying to keep up, man." Later, as Hardin was trying to pin another lie on him, McNamee responded: "Im having a problem with the lie thing." Then, when explaining why he decided to co-operate with federal authorities, McNamee said: "They would have had an opportunity to lock me up for lying." But Hardin mistook McNamees thick New York accent, thinking McNamee said "life" instead of "lying." Hardin started to make a big deal of the comment until McNamee corrected him. The sputtering pace of the trial, now in its fifth week, is taking a noticeable toll on the jury. Two members of the panel already have been dismissed for sleeping, leaving 12 jurors and two alternates. Walton emerged from a morning break and said theyve been asking again how long the trial will last. Walton sounded incredulous when the government responded that it had 14 more witnesses to call, which would bring its total to 26. The judge then told the jury that he expects the trial to last through at least June 8. With the jury out of earshot, the judge said "someones going to pay the price" for the slow pace, but Walton said he couldnt tell which side it would be. Then he segued into a critique of Hardins all-over-the-place questioning. "Its confusing everybody," Walton said, "but I dont think its making much of a point." . The veteran right-hander showed Saturday that he can do just that in what may have been an audition for a spot in the 2013 rotation. . Vandor, 37, and Jarvis, 28, fell behind the top two crews. Questions arose as to whether the duo would post a late sprint—asignature stint of Canadian coach Mike Spracklens crews—but rather than expendtoo much energy, they decided to reserve that power for the repechage. . The blueliner is also expected to miss a chance to play for Sweden at next months World Championship. The 25-year-old suffered the injury on Tuesday in Buffalo when he was checked by Sabres forward Marcus Foligno. . Balls regularly clear the fences and drive people in when he faces San Franciscos two-time NL Cy Young Award winner. . And each Miami Heat player offered it a different greeting. Mike Miller bowed. Udonis Haslem kissed it three times. NEW YORK -- Ryan Dempster is too busy watching "Swamp People" to see the stories about him being possible trade bait. Hes pitching too well, though, to know that he might be in another uniform by the end of the month. Dempster extended his scoreless innings streak to 27 in his first start in three weeks, Starlin Castro hit a three-run homer and the Chicago Cubs beat the New York Mets 7-0 Sunday. "I dont really notice a lot of the rumours," Dempster said. "I just handle what I can handle and thats going out there and pitching and doing my job. Wherever the cards fall they fall." Dempster (4-3) was activated from the disabled list then pitched five innings of four-hit ball in his first outing since June 15, when he experienced tightness in a back muscle. His lengthy string of zeros is the Cubs best for a starter since Ken Holtzman went 27 innings in 1971. The Cubs made it as comfortable as possible for Dempster, scoring four runs before he even threw a pitch. Alfonso Soriano had an RBI single, Jeff Baker a run-scoring double with a jam shot to the opposite field and Geovany Soto drove in two runs with a single against Jonathon Niese. Niese (7-4) had only given up four or more runs in a game five times -- 16 starts -- this season entering Sunday. "They came out swinging," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "He was trying to get ahead (and) they were hammering the first pitch." The Cubs finished the first half in the midst of a modest surge, winning nine of 13 to improve to a disappointing 33-52 in Theo Epsteins first year in charge. Its their worst record before the break since 2006 when they were 34-54. The team has been a little up and down but everybody hustles right now," Castro said. "Lets see in the second half everybody pull a little bit together and win more games." The Mets had a chance to move a season high-tying eight games above .500 but continued a recent trend of trading wins and losses. They go into the All-Star break 46-40, their best first half since 2010 when they were 48-40. New York finished a homestand against last place teams, Philadelphia and Chicago, 3-3. Not that the Mets didnt have had their chances Sunday. They put runners in scoring position in each of first three innings and also in the sixtth but came up empty. . Dempster put his streak in jeopardy by allowing a one-out triple to Scott Hairston in the second but he got Jordany Valdespin to line out to second and Josh Thole to groundout to shortstop. Niese and Ruben Tejada opened the third with singles but the Nos. 2-3-4 hitters couldnt capitalize. After Tejadas hit, Dempster retired nine in a row before being lifted. "He was way more efficient than we thought," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. " Everything went well. He feels great." The right-hander was scheduled to start the Cubs first game after the All-Star break on Friday but Sveum said Dempster will start Saturday instead to better fit his throwing program. Paul Maholm will move up from Saturday. Dempster has won four in a row after an 18-start winless streak dating back to Aug. 11. He struck out four and walked none. Maholm came on in relief for the first time. He made 201 consecutive starts until he entered in the sixth and gave up two hits. But the Mets failed again with runners on. Ike Davis popped to shortstop and Lucas Duda grounded into a double play. Manuel Corpas, James Russell and Shawn Camp finished the eight-hitter. Niese had settled in after the first, allowing only one hit until Luis Valbuena singled with one out in the seventh. Reed Johnson singled with two outs and Castro hit the first pitch for a three-run homer, his seventh long ball this year. "A little tough the last couple of weeks, but today something good happened," Castro said. Niese allowed seven runs and nine hits in seven innings. NOTES: To make room for Dempster on the Cubs roster, Chris Volstad was optioned to Triple-A Iowa. Volstad is 0-7 this season. ... Mets prospects RHP Zach Wheeler and 3B Wilmer Flores were scheduled to play in the MLB Futures Game in Kansas City Sunday. ... Valdespin started in centre field for first time in his career. ... Game took a crisp 2 hours, 8 minutes. ... Collins said Johan Santana will not start Friday. Hell go Sunday or Monday instead. "Were going to let Johans ankle have an extra day or so," Collins said. "Hes fine. Dont misread anything." Santana twisted his ankle in Fridays start, when he gave up a career high-tying 13 hits. ' ' '