PHOENIX—The Rush used a strong defensive performance to remain undefeated, knocking off the Arizona Ratters 70-56 in front of 14,994 fans at U.S. Airways Center Friday night.The Rush (3-0) defense was the story of the game, returning two interceptions for touchdowns and holding Arizona to 0-3 on fourth down conversions, resulting in five defensive stops for the game.

“This is traditionally one of the toughest places to play in the AFL and I am impressed with how focused we were here tonight,” said Rush head coach Mike Hohensee. “I really like the character of this team, as well as the way the defense stepped up tonight to lead us to the win.”

With Arizona (1-1) trailing by seven, 63-56, and threatening to tie the game with less than three minutes remaining, Rush linebacker DeJuan Alfonzo intercepted a Nick Davila pass at the Rush 2-yard line and returned it 48-yards for a touchdown. Alfonzo’s second interception return for a TD this season gave the Rush a 70-56 lead and sealed the win.The interception was big because it came just one play after Rush QB Russ Michna had thrown his second interception of the game, spotting the Rattlers inside the Rush 10-yard line. But as has been the case throughout his career, Alfonzo was around the ball at the right moment.But Alfonzo wasn’t the only story for the Rush. It was the defense, in general, which helped turn the tide of the game in the Rush’s favor. With the Rush trailing 28-21 midway through the second quarter, the Rush went on a 21-0 run that put it in the driver’s seat for the remainder of the game.After a Michna TD pass to Kenny Higgins tied the score at 28-28, DB Nygel Rogers recorded his league-leading fourth interception of the season. Rogers returned the pick 14-yards for a TD and a 35-28 lead.

ROSEMONT—Wolves goaltender Peter Mannino stopped all 23 shots he faced to lead the Wolves to a 3-0 victory over the Milwaukee Admirals in Game 2 of the West Division Semifinal at the Allstate Arena Friday night. The Wolves now lead the series, 2-games-to-0.The blanking was the first professional postseason shutout for Mannino (2-0), who posted two shutouts in 38 regular-season appearances this year.Forwards Spencer Machacek, Johnny Pohl and Tim Stapleton provided the offense for the Wolves.Machacek gave the Wolves (2-0) a 1-0 lead with 70 seconds left in the first period. The right wing skated in from behind the net and attempted to stuff the puck between Milwaukee goaltender Mark Dekanich and the post, then picked up his own rebound and chipped it up over the goaltender’s shoulder.The Wolves pulled ahead, 2-0, with a marker from Pohl midway through the third period. Defenseman Arturs Kulda gained the puck after the face off and fired a long shot. Jason Krog and Pohl hacked at the rebound until Pohl was able to shovel it past Dekanich.Dekanich (0-2) turned aside 28 of 31 shots for the Admirals.

TORONTO—Dana Eveland pitched six innings, Travis Snider homered and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the White Sox 7-3 Thursday night.Alex Gonzalez matched a career high with four hits and had three RBI as the Blue Jays improved to 7-3. One night after a stadium-low crowd of 10,610 watched an 11-1 loss, attendance rose slightly to 10,744 for the series finale.Eveland (2-0), who pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings against Baltimore on April 10, followed that with a solid outing against the White Sox, allowing two runs and three hits in six-plus innings. He walked three and struck out four.He didn’t allow a run until White Sox rookie catcher Donny Lucy hit a two-out solo homer to left in the fifth, the first of his career.The second-deck shot snapped Eveland’s season-opening streak of 11 1-3 scoreless innings, the longest by a Blue Jays pitcher to start his Toronto career. Mike Flanagan pitched 10 2/3 scoreless innings after joining the Blue Jays in a trade with Baltimore in 1987.Shawn Camp replaced Eveland after a leadoff walk in the seventh and struck out Alex Rios but gave up a two-run homer to Alexei Ramirez, his first.Snider opened the scoring with a solo drive to right in the second, his first, off Freddy Garcia.Toronto added three more in the third on back-to-back doubles by Gonzalez and Adam Lind and a sacrifice fly by John Buck.Garcia (0-2) allowed seven runs and eight hits in three-plus innings, walked three and struck out three. He left one batter after Mike McCoy’s RBI double in the fourth. Gonzalez greeted left-hander Randy Williams with a two-run double.After nine starts in right field, Jose Bautista made his first appearance of the year at third base in place of Edwin Encarnacion, who sat out with a sore right arm. Manager Cito Gaston said Encarnacion was expected to miss “a couple of days.” Encarnacion missed most of spring training recovering from a sore left wrist, the result of surgery last October.Toronto first baseman Lyle Overbay went 0 for 5 with four strikeouts, dropping his average to .077.

NOTES—Casey Janssen worked the eighth and Jason Frasor, who lost the closer’s job to Kevin Gregg(good luck on THAT!) on Wednesday, pitched a 1-2-3 ninth…..Snider made a diving catch of Lucy’s liner to left in the seventh. … Former Blue Jays 3B Kelly Gruber attended the game, as did Toronto Raptors players Jarrett Jack and Sonny Weems. … McCoy had two doubles.　

McGehee and Ryan Braun each homered and drove in three runs. Weeks singled home the tiebreaking run in the seventh as the Brewers overcame home runs by Derrek Lee, Marlon Byrd and Ramirez and avoided a three-game sweep with an 8-6 win over the Cubs. It was 5-all in the seventh when pinch-hitter Joe Inglett drew a two-out walk from Jeff Samardzija (0-1), stole second and scored on Weeks’ single. Weeks, who underwent season-ending wrist surgery last May 20 and had two disappointing years before that, has at least one hit in every game this season.After Carlos Villanueva struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh, Braun led off the eighth with a homer off Samardzija. Braun, who also singled three times, has 26 RBI in 26 games at Wrigley Field.Carlos Zambrano and Milwaukee’s Jeff Suppan each allowed four runs in five innings.Zambrano labored, throwing 121 pitches, giving up eight hits and walking three. Though he got cramps in his calf and right index finger in his final inning, he said the wind was a far bigger hindrance.Big Z actually lowered his ERA to 9.45. The wind, the sun, the Cubs and his own Milwaukee teammates made Trevor Hoffman work extra hard for career save No. 594.Hoffman, who blew his last two chances, entered in the ninth inning Thursday with a three-run lead. Two flyballs eluded the Brewers for doubles, letting in a run, before baseball’s career saves leader ended things by retiring Aramis Ramirez on a drive to deep center.It was an unusually hot mid-April day in Chicago – 80 degrees at first pitch – and the wind was blowing out at 18 mph. The conditions caused extra nervousness for Brewers manager Ken Macha, whose team frittered away a three-run, eighth-inning lead Wednesday.With one out in the ninth, right fielder Corey Hart lost sight of Ryan Theriot’s fly and the ball ended up behind Hart. Then, with two outs, Chad Tracy hit a popup that fell between Hart and second baseman Rickie Weeks, each of whom got a late jump.Lou Piniella is more concerned about a relief corps that has a 6.41 ERA after Samardzija allowed two runs and Sean Marshall and John Grabow let in one apiece.Suppan, activated from the disabled list before the game, yielded six hits and a walk. He was relieved by Chris Narveson (1-0), who gave up Ramirez’s tying homer in the sixth.

NOTES—Lee, who became the 10th player to hit 100 homers at Wrigley, was ejected in the seventh for arguing umpire Angel Campos’ strike-three call. …Ted Lilly (offseason shoulder surgery) said after throwing 51 pitches in Wednesday’s rehab start that he’d like his next outing to be with the Cubs. But manager Lou Piniella said Thursday he wants Lilly to make a longer minor league start before rejoining the rotation in late April. … Brewers C Gregg Zaun had three hits after starting the season 1 for 22. … The Cubs have led in each of their first nine games. They last had such a streak in 1945, which also was the last time they went to the World Series. … Byrd’s homer was his third. While with Texas last season, he didn’t hit his third until May 29.

CHARLOTTE—Joakim Noah came through the tunnel, made a left turn toward the locker room and yelled for everyone to hear.It would indeed require a monumental upset for the Bulls to advance in the playoffs, but they overcame numerous obstacles to get the chance.Derrick Rose scored 27 points and Noah added 21 points and 13 rebounds in a 98-89 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night that gave the Bulls the NBA’s last unclaimed playoff spot.Then the Bulls traded John Salmons to Milwaukee and Thomas to Charlotte to clear salary cap space for this summer’s free-agency class.Just when the Bulls appeared to be in good shape, a report surfaced Tuesday that Del Negro and Bulls vice president of basketball operations John Paxson got into a physical altercation after a game last month over the number of minutes Noah played in his return from a foot injury.Not long after the Bulls released a statement downplaying the incident, a healthy Noah was dominating the inside and Rose was beating Charlotte’s guards off the dribble.Despite the injuries, internal strife, trades and a horrible stretch early in the season, the Bulls closed the regular season with a three-game winning streak to beat out Toronto for the right to face Eastern Conference top seed Cleveland. Needing a win or a Raptors loss to New York to get in, the Bulls quickly took it to the Bobcats, who were already locked into the seventh seed in the East and a first-round matchup with Orlando.The Bulls never trailed and led by as many as 18 points in clinching its second straight playoff berth and fifth in six years. It even led to a postgame locker room visit from former Bulls star and current Bobcats owner Michael Jordan.There wasn’t much for Jordan to see from his courtside seat of his Bobcats, who couldn’t match the Bulls intensity.Tyrus Thomas had 16 points and nine rebounds against his former team, while Gerald Wallace scored 15 points and Stephen Jackson 14 in limited minutes for the Bobcats, who were already looking ahead to the franchise’s first playoff appearance.The Bulls will join them, even if it once looked unlikely.The Bulls struggled early adjusting to Ben Gordon’s departure in free agency, including blowing a 35-point lead in a home loss to Sacramento. That led to reports that coach Vinny Del Negro was about to be fired.The Bulls led 8-0 and 19-6. After the Bobcats got within 65-60 on Boris Diaw’s hoop with 4:35 left in the third quarter, Rose scored his team’s next eight points and the Bobcats didn’t threaten in the fourth quarter.Taj Gibson added 11 points and 13 rebounds for the Bulls who sent Charlotte to only its 10th home loss.Bobcats coach Larry Brown called the final regular-season game a “dilemma.” He wanted to rest some starters, but also said he didn’t want that to affect the Chicago-Toronto playoff race.Asked what Jordan, who led the Bulls to six NBA titles, wanted, Brown replied: “I think he would want to do what’s right.” So Charlotte’s regulars started. But then a key player off the bench, center Tyson Chandler, suffered a hip pointer and elbow injury in a nasty fall fighting for a loose ball.An X-ray on his elbow was negative, and while Chandler didn’t return, he was confident he’ll be ready for the playoffs.Brown risked his starters little after that. Wallace, Jackson and Raymond Felton, who struggled to contain Rose, played only 24 minutes apiece.

NOTES—Brown sneaked in a joke discussing how the Bulls have been able to overcome numerous obstacles. “Chicago has not had an easy year. To put themselves in the position they have it’s pretty neat, even with people fighting,” he said, smiling….Brown later insisted the Del Negro-Paxson incident was overblown, saying he’s had issues with several executives, including Jordan. “Michael’s been mad at me,” he said…..Bulls assistant Bernie Bickerstaff said he’s happy that Charlotte has reached the playoffs for the first time. Bickerstaff was the franchise’s first coach and GM, and took Wallace in the expansion draft.

TORONTO—Carlos Quentin and the White Sox handed Toronto’s Brandon Morrow another setback.For better or worse, not many fans saw it. At least not in person.Only 10,610 were at Rogers Center to see the rout. With the NHL postseason starting and the Toronto Raptors playing across town for a spot in the NBA playoffs, the city’s attention was elsewhere.Quentin hit a grand slam and drove in six runs to help the Sox beat the Blue Jays 11-1 on Wednesday night.His slam pushed Morrow’s outing from merely shaky into discouraging.It put the White Sox up 7-0 after a leadoff walk from Mark Teahen, a single by Juan Pierre and Beckham was hit by a pitch. Andruw Jones hit a double to end the night for Morrow (0-1) who left charged with seven earned runs in four-plus innings, with three strikeouts and a walk. The Blue Jays obtained the right-hander in an off-season trade with the Seattle Mariners, but his first two starts for his new team have been disappointing and have left him with a 12.00 ERA.He also allowed Jones’ 391st career home run, one that made him him 50th in big league history with 391. He had been tied with Graig Nettles.

ROSEMONT—The Wolves jumped out to a 3-0 first-period lead and kept their heads above water despite a late rally by the Milwaukee Admirals to skate away with a 6-5 victory in Game 1 of the West Division Semifinal Wednesday night. The Wolves now lead the series, 1-game-to-0. Center Matt Anderson led the Wolves with three assists, while right wing Joey Crabb bagged two goals, including the game-winner. Defensemen Arturs Kulda (G, A) and Nathan Oystrick (2A) also posted multiple points for the Wolves, who got goals from five different players. The Wolves (1-0) drew first blood, 2:07 into the game with a power-play marker from right wing Anthony Stewart. Anderson controlled the puck behind the net and chipped it out to Stewart on the doorstep for a quick flick past Admirals goaltender Mark Dekanich. The Wolves made their lead 2-0, 6:53 into the first period with a second power-play marker. Anderson sent the puck down to Oystrick from high in the zone and the blueliner took a shot from the right corner of the net. Dekanich coughed up the rebound and Crabb was there to knock it back into the empty left side of the net.The Wolves then pulled ahead, 3-0, with a goal from captain Jason Krog at 11:08 of the opening frame when he managed to knock the puck out of the air in front of the net, angling it past Dekanich. Milwaukee (0-1) got on the board at 16:46 of the first period. Right wing Chris Mueller fired a shot from the slot, which ricocheted off a Wolves player’s stick and center Mike Santorelli streaked in and pushed the puck past netminder Peter Mannino.The Admirals cut their deficit to one, 3-2, with a power-play marker from Ryan Maki with 18 seconds remaining in the first period. Center Marty Murray carried the puck into the Wolves zone and slid it to Maki, who drove into the crease and roofed a backhanded shot up under the crossbar.Kulda increased the lead to 4-2 at 11:17 of the second period when his slapshot from the blueline bounced off an Admirals player, hit traffic in front of the net and then skipped past Dekanich.The Admirals pulled back within one, 4-3, at 13:45 of the middle frame. Right wing Andreas Thuresson controlled the puck in the left corner and shipped a pass to defenseman Jonathan Blum alone in the slot. Blum wound up and sent a shot straight past Mannino.Crabb bagged his second of the game, 1:28 into the third period to give the Wolves a 5-3 advantage. The right wing took a pass from Anderson near the slot and pushed a shot forward, which a Milwaukee skater got his stick on, causing the puck to flip up high in the air and land in the back of the net, near the far post. The Wolves kept rolling to make it 6-3 at 3:42 of the final frame with a marker from Kevin Doell. Right wing Spencer Machacek slipped a shot to a streaking Doell near the goal mouth and the center popped it past Dekanich. Game two is Friday,also at Allstate Arena before the series moves to Milwaukee’s Bradley Center for games three and four.

The Cubs staged a thrilling four run,two out 8th inning rally against their former failure LaTroy Hawkins with Kosuke Fukudome capping it and the Northsiders edged the Milwaukee Brewers 7-6 to reach the .500 mark while denying the same for their guests.
The Brewers had the first scoring chance when Prince Fielder led off the top of the second with a double to right,but Casey McGehee flew to right sending Fielder to third,and he was thrown out trying to score on a grounder by Gregg Zaun. The Cubs got one off David Bush in the bottom of the second thanks to back to back doubles by Alfonso Soriano and Mike Fontenot. That 1-0 lead lasted until the top of the 5th.After Randy Wells walked Bush to put two men on, Rickie Weeks tripled into the LF corner to score two and give the Brewers a 2-1 lead that lasted only until the home half of the 5th. Geovany Soto crushed his 1st homer deep into the left field Bleachers to tie it up 2-2. But the Crew got the lead right back in their half of the sixth thanks to consecutive singles by Ryan Braun,Fielder and McGehee, the later of which made it 3-2 Milwaukee.The fourth Brewer run scored thanks to more problems from Soriano in left field. It started with one out and a Weeks single.Corey Hart then launched one off the LF wall that Soriano misplayed,allowing the ball to bounce past him in the direction of the infield for a triple which permitted Weeks to score as the boo-birds awakened. Later in the inning when Lou Piniella brought in Justin Berg to relieve Wells, he also sent in Tyler Colvin as part of a double switch. As Soriano ran back to the dugout,the boos got much louder. The Cubs got that run back in the bottom of the 7th on a Fukudome sac fly, but the Crew thought that they had put the game away with a pair off Jeff Gray(1-0) as Carlos Gomez tripled in Zaun,and scored himself on a three-bagger by Alcides Escobar to make it 6-3 and send about half of the sellout crowd of 39,565 heading for the exits-most shaking their heads in disgust.What they missed was former Cub Hawkins(0-1) reminding them of what he used to do here in 2004 and 2005-and that is to SUCK!  In the Cub 8th, with two gone and nobody on base, Jeff Baker singled,and Hawkins walked both Soto and Colvin to load the bases. Ryan Theriot then singled to RF to score two and send Colvin to third. Fukudome woke the remaining fans up when he bounced his game winning single past Weeks into RF to put the Cubs back in front to stay. Carlos Marmol fanned Hart,Braun and Fielder in the ninth for his 3rd save.

NOTES—The series finale Thursday will pair up Carlos Zambrano(1-1)and Jeff Suppan(0-0)who is fresh off the DL.

LES

As if there wasn’t enough drama already, the Bulls season took another weird twist and this one involves coach Vinny Del Negro and executive vice president John Paxson.It also overshadowed a crucial victory.On a night when the Bulls boosted their playoff hopes by beating the Boston Celtics 101-93 behind Derrick Rose’s career-high 39 points, the attention centered on a report that their top executive pushed their coach during a confrontation following a game last month.

“I’m not going to comment,” Del Negro said. “I go about my job everyday no matter what happens. I’m a competitor. I’ve been involved in the game a long time. I love the challenge of it. All the other things that happen pretty much stay internally.”

There are reports that Paxson shoved Del Negro twice in the chest and had to be restrained in a dispute after the March 30 home game against Phoenix over how much Joakim Noah played.Paxson did not return a call seeking comment.

“This is an organizational issue, which we will handle internally,” Bulls spokesman Tim Hallam said. The “organizational issue” popped up at a time when the Bulls are trying to secure the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They lead Toronto by a game in the Eastern Conference, thanks to Rose’s big effort and Kirk Hinrich’s season-high 30 points, and will reach the postseason with a win at Charlotte on Wednesday or a loss by the Raptors to New York. Fourth-place Boston, meanwhile, can forget about catching Atlanta for the third seed after losing for the sixth time in nine games.Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 28 points, and Ray Allen scored 25. Kevin Garnett added 14 points and nine rebounds after sitting out the previous game to rest.Rose scored 17 in the fourth, and Hinrich added 10, including a buzzer-beating jumper that made it 95-88 with 43.7 seconds left. Rose then punctuated it with a breakaway finger roll, opting against the dunk with the crowd ready to explode, capping another wild night in a season that’s had it’s share of twists.There were the early struggles and a lukewarm endorsement from management, fueling speculation about Del Negro’s job status. The Bulls recovered, but Noah developed plantar fasciitis in his left foot, causing him to miss 18 games and ultimately sparking the altercation that was reported on Tuesday.The Bulls have hired lawyers to interview witnesses about the incident.”This is the NBA and things happen,” Del Negro said. “Whether it’s in practice or a different situation, things are going to come out. You handle it. … There’s a lot of emotion involved in this game with all the things that happen on a daily basis.” Bulls management wasn’t happy after Noah played 27 minutes against Portland on Feb. 26. He sat out the next three weeks and has seen his playing time increase since his return, yet the issue popped up again during the Bulls double-overtime loss to New Jersey.Noah played just 12 seconds after regulation because, Del Negro said, he had reached his 35-minute limit. Then general manager Gar Forman told reporters management had approved playing him beyond the limit because of the magnitude of the game.

NOTES—Rose’s previous best was 37 points…Celtics backup G Tony Allen was sick and missed the game…..Coach Doc Rivers endorsed Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro before the game, saying, “I think he’s done a very good job.” He pointed out that the Bulls pushed the Celtics to seven games in the first round of the playoffs last year, although Boston was missing Kevin Garnett. He also mentioned that the Bulls lost leading scorer Ben Gordon. “I think expectations, in some ways, were almost unrealistic,” Rivers said. There is widespread speculation that Del Negro will be gone after the season.

TORONTO—Ricky Romero became the latest Toronto pitcher to take a no-hit try into the late innings, losing his bid in the eighth when former teammate Alex Rios homered Tuesday night in the Blue Jays’ 4-2 win over the White Sox.Romero struck out a career-high 12 and was in complete control until hitting A.J. Pierzynski with a pitch to start the eighth. Rios followed with a no-doubt drive to deep left for the Sox only hit, ruffling Romero.A pitching staff that lost ace Roy Halladay in the offseason again came close to a no-hit gem. Shaun Marcum held Texas hitless for 6 1/3 innings on opening day before Vladimir Guerrero singled. There has been just one no-hitter in Toronto history, by Dave Stieb in 1990.CC Sabathia of the New York Yankees neared a no-hitter last Saturday, shutting down Tampa Bay until Kelly Shoppach’s two-out single in the eighth.Pierzynski led off the eighth and was granted first base on a pitch that appeared to hit the dirt, not his right toe. Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston came out to argue and home plate umpire Tim McClelland called the rest of the crew in to discuss the call, but let it stand.Romero (1-0) started Rios with a called strike, then fell behind 2-1 before the two-time All-Star outfielder hit a changeup over the wall in left.Romero turned around toward center field, put his hands on his knees and spit after the home run. He lowered his head and shouted as Rios circled the bases to a chorus of boos.Once Rios crossed home plate, the crowd of 12,167 gave Romero a standing ovation, then gave him another as he left the field at the end of the inning. Romero covered his mouth with his glove and yelled at himself as he descended into the dugout, slamming his glove on top of the bench.Rios spent most of last year with Toronto before Chicago claimed him on waivers in August. The two-run homer was his second of the season.Former Cub flop Kevin Gregg worked the ninth for his third save as Toronto won for the 11th time in 12 games against the White Sox at Rogers Centre.Romero walked two. The 25-year-old lefty also pitched well in his 2010 debut, limiting Texas to one run in seven innings.He made his major league debut last season and went 13-9, and solidified his spot in the Toronto rotation with a 1.89 ERA in five starts during spring training.Romero’s previous career best for strikeouts was nine, set last June 16 at Washington. He topped that mark by fanning two in each of the first six innings.He had just two three-ball counts, walking Carlos Quentin in the fourth and Paul Konerko in the seventh.The White Sox didn’t get a ball out of the infield until the seventh, when Quentin hit a one-out drive to center, but the ball hung up long enough for Vernon Wells to make an easy catch.Rios had the only other hard-hit ball early on, a sharp one-hopper to short leading off the third that was fielded by Alex Gonzalez.Toronto opened the scoring in the second when Gonzalez singled and Wells doubled. Lyle Overbay, who came in 2 for 27 this season, followed with an RBI single.Edwin Encarnacion blooped a two-run double off Gavin Floyd (0-2) in the fifth.