The Scoop on Sports - 07/03/2008

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SCOOP ON SPORTS MORNING 07/03/08

LOCAL SPORTS SCHEDULE WEDNESDAY, 07/02/08
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
DETROIT 0 AT MN TWINS (47-38) 7


NORTHWOODS LEAGUE BASEBALL
ST. CLOUD 9 AT ROCHESTER HONKERS (18-14) 7 AT MAYO FIELD
LACROSSE 6 AT BRAINERD 1
MADISON AT BATTLE CREEK—POSTPONED/RAIN
ALEXANDRIA 2 AT DULUTH 3
MANKATO 3 AT THUNDER BAY 7
EAU CLAIRE AT GREEN BAY—POSTPONED/RAIN
WISCONSIN 11 AT WATERLOO 1 (GAME ONE)
WISCONSIN 1 AT WATERLOO 2 (GAME TWO)


AMATEUR BASEBALL
KASSON COYOTES 6 AT ROCHESTER ROADRUNNERS (8-8/5-6) 1 AT HUDSON FIELD




LOCAL SPORTS SCHEDULE THURSDAY, 07/03/08

NORTHWOODS LEAGUE BASEBALL
ST. CLOUD __ AT ROCHESTER HONKERS (18-14) __ 7:05 MAYO FIELD
LACROSSE __ AT BRAINERD __
MADISON __ AT BATTLE CREEK __ (GAME ONE)
MADISON __ AT BATTLE CREEK __ (GAME TWO)
ALEXANDRIA __ AT DULUTH __
MANKATO __ AT THUNDER BAY __
EAU CLAIRE __ AT GREEN BAY __ (GAME ONE)
EAU CLAIRE __ AT GREEN BAY __ (GAME TWO)
WICONSIN __ AT WATERLOO __


W-N-B-A BASKETBALL
MN LYNX (8-8) __ AT LOS ANGELES __ 9:30


UNITED SOCCER LEAGUE FIRST DIVISION
MN THUNDER (4-6-4) __ AT ATLANTA SILVERBACKS __ 6:55



SCOOP ON SPORTS MORNING 07/03/08

Nick Blackburn, Jesse Crain and Boof Bonser combined to shutout Detroit as the Twins won the rubber game of their three-game series with the Tigers at the Metrodome 7-0 yesterday. Joe Mauer’s two-out, two-run single sparked a five-run third inning for the Twins, who registered the tenth shutout of the Tigers this season, the most against one team in baseball. Blackburn allowed three hits in seven innings, striking out four and walking just one, Crain gave up two hits in the 8th, and Bonser worked a one-two-three ninth. The Twins have now outscored Detroit 39-17 in six games at the Metrodome this season, winning five times. Minnesota used small-ball to chase rookie Eddie Bonine in the third, scoring five runs on five singles, a walk and an error on Detroit third baseman Carlos Guillen. Delmon Young picked up three hits and knocked in a run for the Twins, who have won three of four, Nick Punto added a pair of hits and an RBI, and Jason Kubel and Brian Buscher also each drove in a run.

Chicago outlasted Cleveland 6-5 in ten innings, and Baltimore defeated Kansas City 5-2, in other American League baseball last night. A.J. Pierzynski led off the tenth inning with his second homerun of the game as the Whitesox stretched their current winning streak to seven games with their win over the Indians, and Daniel Cabrera pitched a seven-hitter to earn his first victory since May 20th, and Aubrey Huff homered, as the Orioles downed Gil Meche and the Royals.

The Minnesota Twins have a night off tonight, and will open a three-game weekend series at home against the Cleveland Indians tomorrow at the Metrodome. The Twins have won two-in-a-row and eight of their last ten, but still trail first-place Chicago by two-and-a-half games in the American League Central Division.

Chicago is at home, while Detroit and Kansas City both play on the road, tonight in American League baseball. The Whitesox have won seven in-a-row and lead the Central Division by two-and-a-half games over the Twins as they open a home series against the Oakland Athletics, the third-place Tigers visits Seattle, and the last-place Royals are at Baltimore to close out their four-game series with the Orioles.

Twins’ right fielder Michael Cuddyer underwent an MRI on his right index finger yesterday that revealed a sprain at the knuckle, as opposed to the original diagnosis of a strained tendon. Cuddyer is eligible to come off the disabled list on July 12th, just two days before the All-Star break, so it’s likely the Twins may wait until after the All-Star game to activate him. In other Twins’ notes, manager Ron Gardenhire received a report of a clean bill of health for his heart, after an exam prompted by a stress test that raised concern.

First baseman Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers missed his second consecutive game yesterday because of a sore left hip flexor muscle, and is reported day-to-day. Elsewhere in baseball, the Tigers have sent right-hander Zach Miner down to Class Triple-A Toledo and recalled reliever Aquilino Lopez, Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Rafael Furcal will undergo surgery on a bulging disc in his lower back and miss at least two months, the Dodgers have activated pitcher Hiroki Kuroda and optioned rookie left-hander Clayton Kershaw to the minors, the Oakland Athletics have placed third baseman Eric Chavez on the 15-day disabled list and selected contract of infielder Wes Bankston from Sacramento of the Pacific Coast League, the Athletics have signed 16-year-old pitcher Michael Inoa of the Dominican Republic to a minor league deal, San Diego catcher Michael Barrett is believed to have suffered a broken nose when a fouled a ball off his face during last night’s loss to Colorado, the Pittsburgh Pirates have placed closer Matt Capps on the disabled list with bursitis in his right shoulder and a slight deformation of his right rotator cuff, the Pirates have recalled outfielder/first baseman Steve Pierce, the Colorado Rockies have placed starting pitcher Jeff Francis on the 15-day disabled list with inflammation in his left shoulder and recalled former Twin Mark Redman, the San Francisco Giants have signed 16-year-old Dominican pitcher Luis Mateo, the Houston Astros have recalled pitcher Dave Borkowski and designated reliever Oscar Villarreal for assignment, Cincinnati shortstop Alex Gonzalez is scheduled for surgery on his left knee on Monday, New York Yankees’ outfielder Hideki Matsui is expected to remain sidelined until after the All-Star break because of a sore back, Florida Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez and Boston Red Sox outfielder J.D. Drew have been named the Player's of the Month for June, and Dan Haren of the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Angels' John Lackey have been named the Pitchers of the Month in the National and American Leagues, respectively.

Derek McCallum launched a two-run homerun in the top of the ninth inning as the St. Cloud River Bats outscored the Rochester Honkers 9-7 last night at Mayo Field, eliminating the Honkers from the first-half playoff race in the North Division of the Northwoods League. McCallum finished with two hits, three RBI’s and two runs scored, while Devin Goodwin led the Honkers with two hits, including a homerun, three RBI’s, two runs scored and a stolen base. In other Northwoods League play Wednesday, Tim Palincsar hit a walk-off grand slam homerun in the bottom of the ninth inning as Thunder Bay rallied for a 7-3 win over Mankato for its sixth win in seven games, the Moondogs clinched the first-half North Division title despite the loss, Max Fulginiti and Matt Gantner each had three hits and Carson Vitale homered as Wisconsin slammed Waterloo 11-1 in the first game of a doubleheader, Matt Lang had a two-run, walk-off, single in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Bucks won the nightcap 2-1, Robby Price broke a two-all tie with a bases loaded single in the bottom of the ninth inning as Duluth edged Alexandria 3-2, and games at Battle Creek and Green Bay were rained out.

The Rochester Honkers close out the first half of the Northwoods League baseball season tonight, hosting the St. Cloud River Bats at Mayo Field. The Honkers are 18-14 and will finish second to Mankato in the North Division first-half standings, and Rochester looks to snap a two-game losing skid in tonight’s game. Also tonight, LaCrosse is at Brainerd, Madison visits Battle Creek for a doubleheader and can lock up the South Division first-half title with a sweep of the Bombers, Duluth is at home against Alexandria, Mankato plays at Thunder Bay, Eau Claire plays a twinbill at Green Bay, and Wisconsin is at Waterloo.

Josh Burton allowed just three hits and struck out seven over seven innings as Kasson defeated the Rochester Roadrunners 6-1 last night in Twin Rivers League amateur baseball at Hudson Field. Nick Thompson had two hits and an RBI for the Coyotes, and the loss leaves the Roadrunners with an 8-8 overall record and a 5-6 mark in league games.

The Minnesota Vikings have released rookie quarterback Kyle Wright, bringing their roster to 80 players, the top limit for the start of training camp. The Vikings still have five draft picks who are unsigned, and the N-F-L has previously allowed teams to have more than 80 players when camp opened, allowing exemptions for players who participated in the spring development league in Europe. Wright was Miami’s starting quarterback for most of the past three seasons, and in ten games last year, he completed 141-of-241 passes for 17-hundred-47 yards with a dozen touchdowns and 14 interceptions.

Brett Favre is calling reports that he’s interested in coming out of retirement to play again nothing more than another rumor. ESPN reported Wednesday that Favre contacted the Packers in recent weeks about playing another season, and the Wisconsin State Journal reported that when it seemed that the Packers had no interest in bringing Favre back this season, the quarterback asked for his release and was denied. The Packers offered no comment on the situation and late yesterday. Favre announced his retirement at a tear-filled press conference in March, but has yet to file his official retirement papers with the N-F-L, leading to further speculation that he will return.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have released quarterback Jared Zabransky and added wide receiver Marvin Allen to the practice squad. Also in football, the Chicago Bears have signed running back Matt Forte to a four-year contract.

The Big Ten Conference has informed the University of Minnesota that its football home games against Montana State September 13th and Florida Atlantic September 20th will both kickoff at eleven o’clock in the morning and be televised on the Big Ten Network. Minnesota will make its two-thousand-eight debut on the B-T-n August 30th at six o’clock against Northern Illinois, and the start time for the Gophers’ nonconference road game at Bowling Green September sixth will be at 7:30.

The New Jersey Nets have signed first-round draft picks Brook Lopez and Ryan Anderson. In other basketball news, the Golden State Warriors have reportedly offered free-agent forward Elton Brand a five-year contract worth 90-million-dollars, the Los Angeles Clippers have signed former Indiana star Eric Gordon to a contract, the Miami Heat signed first round draft pick Michael Beasley of Kansas State to an undisclosed contract, center DeSagana Diop has agreed to a five-year deal worth 31-million-dollars with the Dallas Mavericks, Kendrick Perkins and Bill Walker of the Boston Celtics have both undergone arthroscopic surgeries on their knees, and the Seattle SuperSonics have been released from their lease at KeyArena under a settlement agreement with the City of Seattle and will relocate to Oklahoma City immediately.

The Minnesota Lynx look to snap a two-game losing skid as they open a two-game W-N-B-A road trip tonight in Los Angeles against the Western Conference-leading Sparks. The Lynx are 8-8 this season, and have won just twice in 15 visits to Staples Center, while the Sparks have also lost two straight and are 10-5, just a half-game ahead of second-place San Antonio in the conference standings. Minnesota lost a one-point, double-overtime, decision to the Sparks during the pre-season, and tonight’s game is the first of the regular season between the two clubs.

The Minnesota Wild re-signed Kurtis Foster to a one-year deal Wednesday. Foster is currently rehabbing after breaking his leg in a game this past season, and terms of his new contract with the Wild were not disclosed.

The Tampa Bay Lightning re-signed center Ryan Craig to a two-year contract and signed defenseman Janne Niskala to a one-year deal on Wednesday. In other hockey notes, the Phoenix Coyotes have re-signed goaltender Al Montoya, the Dallas Stars have signed former New York Ranger Sean Avery to a four-year deal 15.5-million-dollars, the Columbus Blue Jackets have traded forwards Dan Fritsche [FRITT-shee] and Nikolai Zherdev [NICK-oh-lie ZHAIR-dehv] to the New York Rangers for defensemen Fedor Tyutin [feh-DOAR TYOO-tinn] and Christian Backman, the Colorado Avalanche re-signed forward Wojtek Wolski to a two-year contract worth more than five-and-a-half-million-dollars, the Boston Bruins have signed forward Petteri Nokelainen to a multi-year contract, the Calgary Flames have re-signed defenseman Jim Vandermeer and signed forwards Curtis Glencross and Pete Vandermeer, the Carolina Hurricanes have signed defenseman Josef Melichar to a one-year contract and signed defenseman Joni Pitkanen to a three-year deal, the Detroit Red Wings have agreed to terms with forward Marian Hossa [HO-suh] on a one-year contract worth 7.4-million-dollars, the Pittsburgh Penguins have signed forward Evgeni Malkin to a five-year contract extension, the Penguins re-signed defenseman Brooks Orpik to a six-year deal worth 22-and-a-half-million-dollars, the Vancouver Canucks have signed forwards Ryan Johnson and Alexandre Bolduc and defenseman Nolan Baumgartner, and re-signed goaltender Curtis Sanford, the Philadelphia Flyers have re-signed defenseman Randy Jones and forward Riley Cote, the Ottawa Senators have signed Jarkko Ruutu to a three-year deal, the New York Islanders have signed free-agent center Doug Weight to a one-year contract, and the Atlanta Thrashers signed unrestricted free agent defenseman Rob Hainsey to a multi-year deal.

The Minnesota Thunder travel to Atlanta tonight for a United Soccer League First Division match against the Silverbacks. Minnesota is 4-6-4 and tied for seventh place in the league standings with Miami FC with 16 points, while the Silverbacks are 4-4-5 and tied for fifth-place with Carolina with 17 points.

Venus and Serena Williams will play in the semifinals at Wimbledon today, with the hopes of facing off in the women's finals at the All England Club. Venus, the Grand Slam's seventh-seed and defending champion, will face fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva, while sixth-seeded Serena will take on upstart Jie Zheng [ZHEN JEH] of China. The American sisters met in the finals at the All England Club in two-thousand-two and two-thousand-three, with Serena winning both times.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal [nay-DAHL] are just a match each away from a third-straight meeting in the men's final at Wimbledon. Seeded number-one and two respectively, the two men were quarterfinals winners at the All England Club Wednesday. Federer, the five-time defending champion, will face former world number-one Marat Safin in Friday's semifinals, while Nadal will face one of two unseeded players in the semis. The match between German Rainer Schuettler and Frenchman Arnaud Clement was suspended until today due to darkness, with the match tied at a set apiece.

Senior Jon Roberts led five Gophers in action yesterday on the fourth day of the U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, reaching the semi-finals of the 200-meter breaststroke and ending with a 12th place finish. Minnesota also had four swimmers take the blocks in the 100-meter freestyle, with ten-time All-American Tyler Schmidt placing 36th, senior Steve Miller finishing 44th, sophomore Curt Carlson taking 77th and senior Mike Woodson placing 103rd.


WEDNESDAY'S SCOREBOARD

MLB National League
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Florida Marlins 4, Washington Nationals 2
Philadelphia Phillies 7, Atlanta Braves 3
Pittsburgh Pirates 9, Cincinnati Reds 5
Los Angeles Dodgers 4, Houston Astros 1
St. Louis Cardinals 8, New York Mets 7
Colorado Rockies 8, San Diego Padres 1
Milwaukee Brewers 4, Arizona Diamondbacks 3
Chicago Cubs 6, San Francisco Giants 5

MLB American League
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Minnesota Twins 7, Detroit Tigers 0
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 7, Oakland Athletics 4
Baltimore Orioles 5, Kansas City Royals 2
New York Yankees 18, Texas Rangers 7
Tampa Bay Rays 7, Boston Red Sox 6
Chicago White Sox 6, Cleveland Indians 5 (10 inn)
Seattle Mariners 4, Toronto Blue Jays 2

WNBA
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Indiana Fever 74, Chicago Sky 67