Yearly Archives: 2010

Freddy gets fingered as homer happy Twins beat Sox 12-6

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For the first time since the day before the All Star break,the White Sox are in second place. Freddy Garcia was throwing up batting practice and the Minnesota Twins obigued him with five homers and went on to rout the Sox 12-6. Scott Baker had all the run support he needed. The Twins started quickly with back to back doubles by Orlando Hudson and Joe Mauer in the top of the first to take a 1-0 lead,and had it not been for a nice grab by Paul Konerko on Denard`Span’s lead off liner,it may have been worse since the visitors left two runners on base. After the Sox failed to score against Baker(10-9)in the bottom of the first, Garcia was lit up in the top of the second. Former teammate Jim Thome hit his 579th career homer.One out later, former Brewer J.J.Hardy lifted his 5th of the season into the Twins bullpen.Span next singled,and with two gone,Mauer crushed one the opposite way into the left field seats to make it 5-0. The Sox got three back with one swing by Alex Rios in the bottom of the second after singles by Konerko and Alexi Ramirez. His three run homer into the Minnesota pen cut the Twins lead to 5-3,but Garcia(10-5)did not survive the top of the third. Jason Kubel led off with a single and took third one out later on Thome’s double into the RF corner. Tony Pena relieved Garcia and Danny Valencia greeted him with a sac fly to CF making it 6-3. The Twins added a pair in the 4th on Michael Cuddyer’s double which scored Delmon Young and Kubel. Each team scored a pair in the 6th. The Twins got a two run blast from Cuddyer and the Sox an RBI single by Mark Kotsay and a sac fly off the bat of Ramirez leaving it 10-5 Minnesota.Kubel added a two run blast off Scott Linebrink in the Twins 8th.Baker left after the sixth,giving way to Matt Guerrier who pitched the 7th and 8th and Jon Rauch who pitched the 9th and gave up the Sox final run.
NOTES—Attendance was 30,900 with many empty seats in the upper deck…..John Dan ks(11-8)faces Glen Perkins(0-0)in Wednesday night’s game…This was the Sox second loss in their last 15 games at home…..Juan Pierre had his 16 game hitting streak snapped.

LES

Cubs get to Lincecum, beat Giants 8-6

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SAN FRANCISCO—Starlin Castro drove in three runs, Kosuke Fukudome homered and the slumping Cubs battered San Francisco ace Tim Lincecum in an 8-6 win over the Giants on Tuesday.Ryan Dempster pitched into the seventh inning for his second straight win while Aramis Ramirez added three hits for the Cubs,who ended a season-high six-game losing streak on the road. It’s only the Cubs’ third win in their last 15 games.Lincecum, the two-time reigning NL Cy Young winner, lasted just four innings and gave up six runs, including Fukudome’s two-run homer in the first. Over his last five starts San Francisco’s ace is 1-2 with a 5.40 ERA.The Cubs dropped the first game of the series in extra innings, but scored four runs in the first off Lincecum (11-6) and never looked back. The Cubs had scored just 10 runs in its previous four games before breaking out against the Giants.Castro had an RBI single in the first then hit a bases-loaded single in the fourth to drive in two more.Fukudome’s 10th homer of the season, a two-run shot on the first pitch he saw, landed in the waters of McCovey Cove and gave his team a 4-0 lead. It is the first time in Lincecum’s career he has allowed more than three runs in the first.Dempster (10-8) nearly let it all slip away, albeit with help from the Cubs’ defense which committed errors in the first two innings. The Giants benefited and scored an unearned run in the first then pulled within 4-2 on Travis Ishikawa’s RBI single in the second.Lincecum settled down briefly but ran into trouble again in the fourth when he gave up a pair of singles and a walk to load the bases. Castro, who had an RBI single in the first, followed with a two-out single to center to drive in Koyie Hill and Dempster, making it 6-2.For Lincecum it was another in a series of disappointing outings this season. He allowed six runs and eight hits in four innings and lost consecutive-starts for the third time this season. San Francisco’s ace altered his delivery in July in hopes of changing his luck but has had limited success since.The Giants fell 2½ games behind San Diego in the NL West. San Francisco also dropped into a tie with Cincinnati for the NL wild card lead.Dempster gave up eight hits in 6 2/3 innings and settled down after a rough start. The right-hander retired 14 of the final 18 batters he faced and left after giving up a two-out single to Emmanuel Burriss and walking Aubrey Huff. eliever Andrew Cashner gave up Buster Posey’s long fly ball to center that glanced off Tyler Colvin’s glove for a double. Burriss and Huff scored, cutting the gap to 6-4, but Cashner struck out Pat Burrell to end the inning.Pinch-hitter Mike Fontenot hit a two-run double off Guillermo Mota in the eighth to increase the Cubs lead to 8-4.Chris Marmol made it interesting in the ninth when he gave up four hits, including an RBI double to Posey. Pablo Sandoval also drove in a run with an infield single but Marmol struck out Juan Uribe and got Ishikawa to ground out.NOTES—Posey finished with three hits and four RBI. … As expected, the Cubs placed Derrek Lee on the bereavement list. They also put Geovany Soto on the 15-day DL and recalled IF Micah Hoffpauir and C Welington Castillo from Triple-A Iowa. Hoffpauir and Castillo arrived at the ballpark less than two hours before the 7:15 p.m. start. …Lou Piniella, who is away from the team while attending to family matters, is expected to rejoin the team on Friday according to bench coach Alan Trammell. … San Francisco grounded into two double plays and have 10 in its last five games. Overall the Giants have hit into 115 twin-killings, second-most in the majors behind Minnesota. … Aramis Ramirez recorded his 1,000th career RBI in the first inning when he singled in Starlin Castro. … Dempster’s single off Lincecum in the fourth was his sixth hit this season. He had eight for all of 2009. … The six earned runs allowed by Lincecum are the second-most he’s allowed in one game during his career. … Giants SS Edgar Renteria left the game with a strained left bicep.

 

Cards and Reds empty benches as St.Louis wins again

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CINCINNATI—From their first-inning scrum to the final out, the St. Louis Cardinals sent a message: Don’t demean the defending champs. Not without expecting a fight.Yadier Molina jawed with Cincinnati Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips in the first inning Tuesday night, sparking a benches-clearing fight, and the Cardinals followed their catcher’s lead to an 8-4 victory that moved St. Louis back into first place in the NL Central.When it was over, there were cuts and scrapes and a sense that the Cardinals had gotten the better of it all.
“I know our guys,” manager Tony La Russa said. “This is not the first time that we’ve been challenged. You just go up and down our roster — we’ve got a bunch of guys that are very tough characters. Like I say, there’s times that you beat us, we’re not good enough. but you’re never going to scare us and we’re never going to back down.”
The fight brought out their best.St. Louis has won the first two games of the showdown series between teams locked in a tight race since May. The Cardinals moved a season-high 14 games over .500 and a few percentage points ahead of the Reds, who had led the division for the last eight days.The defending champions improved to 9-5 against the Reds this season, the only team in the NL Central that has beaten them so thoroughly.

“They’re in first place, but we showed we’ve got good talent and we’re going to compete,” Molina said. “We did today. We battled.”

By contrast, the Reds responded to the dustup with one of their worst games, committing three errors and managing only six singles.

“I don’t think it’s a big mystery that there was some tension before the game,” third baseman Scott Rolen said. “I was tired before my first at-bat. I won’t get into specifics about it. It was two teams defending their own people. It got ugly.”

It all started with Phillips.The second baseman opened the series by saying he hates the Cardinals and calling them complainers. Reds manager Dusty Baker wished he hadn’t said it, and had a talk with Phillips before the game on Tuesday.Then, Phillips caught grief from the Cardinals.He dug in to lead off the bottom of the first and tapped his bat on Molina’s shin guard in a friendly gesture. Molina was taken aback.

“The comment he made yesterday that he’s got no friends over here – then why you touch me?” Molina said. “You are not my friend, so don’t touch me. I mean, if we’re no good for you, you are not my friend.”

The exchange turned angry. Phillips took off his helmet, Molina removed his mask. Both benches and bullpens emptied.La Russa and Baker talked animatedly in the middle of the crowd. Rolen — a former Cardinal — went after St. Louis pitcher Chris Carpenter, who beat the Reds 7-3 in the series opener on Monday night, trying to be a peacemaker. That, too, escalated.Carpenter ended up pinned against the backstop screen. Cueto also ended up against the screen, furiously kicking away St. Louis players. Catcher Jason LaRue got kicked in the head — La Russa said he had a slight concussion — and Carpenter had several long, raw scrapes across his lower back and his right side.

“I turn around and I’ve got Cueto kicking me in the back with his spikes,” Carpenter said. “It’s super unprofessional. I don’t know where he learned how to fight.”

Cueto said he was trying to protect himself.

“I was trying to break it up,” Cueto said, with catcher Ramon Hernandez translating. “The next thing I know, 15-20 people were around me. I was up against the net. When 15 people are around you, you get scared. I had my back to the wall with my feet up.”

The altercation lasted seven minutes. Play resumed and Phillips grounded out.Molina hit a solo homer off Cueto (11-3) in the second inning and later added a sacrifice fly. Matt Holliday broke the game open with a bases-loaded single in the seventh, one of his four hits.Rookie left-hander Jaime Garcia (10-5) beat the Reds for the third time this season, giving up four runs in 5 1/3 innings. Ryan Franklin retired Phillips, the only batter he faced, on a routine grounder with two runners aboard, ending the game for his 20th save in 22 tries.

Sky beats Phoenix for first time, still barely alive

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Chicago Sky
ROSEMONT—Sylvia Fowles had 24 points and 14 rebounds and the Sky rallied to beat the Phoenix Mercury 91-82 on Tuesday night.The Sky (13-17) remained 4 1/2 games behind Washington for the last Eastern Conference playoff berth.The Sky, which trailed by as many as 11 in the third quarter, put together a 17-2 run in the fourth to beat the Mercury for the first time in nine tries.Diana Taurasi had 28 points and Penny Taylor added 14 for Phoenix (14-15).Epiphanny Prince had 16 points for the Sky who still need a big time maricle to make the playoffs for the first time ever.
 
 

 

Cubs lose to Giants in eleven, Zambrano walks seven

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SAN FRANCISCO—Carlos Zambrano matched his career-high with seven walks in his first start since a June 25 dugout blowup and ensuing banishment, and his short-handed Cubs lost to the San Francisco Giants 4-3 in 11 innings Monday night long after he left the game.Pat Burrell hit a game-ending sacrifice fly off loser Marcos Mateo (0-1), who made his major league debut after being called up earlier in the day.Edgar Renteria led off the 11th with a single and Aubrey Huff’s single moved him to third. Mateo then intentionally walked standout rookie Buster Posey to bring up Burrell.Chris Ray (5-0) recorded the final out of the 11th for the win.Burrell had his first game-ending RBI of the season and the 10th of his career. It was his first ever via sacrifice fly.San Francisco’s Travis Ishikawa was thrown out at the plate in the 10th trying to score from first on Andres Torres’ double to the deep corner in right.The Cubs lost their fourth straight and season-high sixth in a row on the road. They last dropped six straight away from Wrigley Field from June 10-25, 2009.Zambrano returned to the rotation for the first time in six weeks since exploding in the dugout and getting into it with teammate Derrek Lee. Zambrano made three relief appearances since coming off the restricted list late last month after undergoing anger management therapy during his month away.Alfonso Soriano hit a first-inning RBI double and Marlon Byrd singled in a run that inning as the Cubs gave Zambrano an early boost.Posey hit an RBI double in the fifth for the Giants, who also pushed across another run on a wild pitch by Zambrano who was was in position to win after Tyler Colvin gave the Cubs a 3-2 lead on a sixth-inning single, but the Giants tied it in the bottom half on an RBI single by Torres.Zambrano was suspended June 26, a day after he got into a verbal altercation with Lee. The two exchanged words in the Cubs dugout after Zambrano was pulled from his start after allowing four runs in the first inning against the White Sox.He was on a pitch count of 75-80 and already had 69 pitches through four inning. Zambrano wound up at 95 pitches, only 49 strikes.Lou Piniella missed the game to be in Tampa, Fla., with his ailing mother. There is no timetable for when Piniella might rejoin the club.In addition, Lee left the team to travel to his native Sacramento to be with his ill grandfather. The Cubs expected to know more late Monday about whether Lee would return for Tuesday night’s game or perhaps need a stint on the bereavement list.Scouts were out in force at AT&T Park to see Zambrano’s return and evaluate whether he could help a contender if the Cubs decide to let him go. He only hit 90 mph on the radar gun a couple of times, regularly throwing 86-88.Zambrano yelled at himself when he escaped a second-inning jam in which he walked three before striking out leadoff man Torres to get out of it unscathed.Colvin’s two-out single chased Giants starter Madison Bumgarner.He had lost his previous two starts following a four-start winning streak, but Bumgarner didn’t get a single run of support from the offense in 10 innings over those past two outings.Geovany Soto was a late lineup scratch by the Cubs because of a sprained right shoulder ligament. He missed his third straight game. Soto tested his shoulder, which bothers him only at the plate, during early batting practice and was fine but during later warmups experienced some discomfort.Koyie Hill replaced Soto.

NOTES—Giants INF/OF Eugenio Velez began full baseball activities for the first time since being struck on the head July 25 by a foul ball in the dugout against Arizona, and is scheduled to begin playing in rehab games later this week. … Zambrano is 5-1 in 10 career outings and nine starts vs. San Francisco. … Giants LHP reliever Jeremy Affeldt, on the DL since July 24 with a strained left oblique muscle, will throw the third bullpen of his rehab on Tuesday. Affeldt will mix in curveballs this time. “I will know tomorrow where I’m at,” he said. … The Giants celebrated “Jerry Garcia Tribute Night” with a concert by Grateful Dead tribute band before the game. Members of the actual band sang the national anthem. Former Dead drummer Mickey Hart led fans in “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” played on kazoos during the seventh-inning stretch, trying for a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

O’s beat Sox again on Roberts bomb in 10th, now tied with Twins for first.

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BALTIMORE — Brian Roberts hit his first home run of the season leading off the 10th inning, and the Baltimore Orioles continued their uncanny run of success under new manager Buck Showalter with a 3-2 victory over the White Sox on Monday night.Baltimore is 6-1 since Showalter made his debut last Tuesday. Earl Weaver is the only other manager in the history of the Orioles to win six of his first seven games.After sweeping three games from the Los Angeles Angels, the last-place Orioles took three of four from the Sox, giving them successive series wins for the first time since July 2009. The homestand was Baltimore’s best since it went 7-0 against Seattle and Texas from Aug. 3-9, 2004.Roberts’ drive came on the second pitch from J.J. Putz (5-3). Roberts, a two-time All-Star, missed much of the season with a bad back before returning from the 60-day disabled list on July 23.Matt Albers (4-3), who worked out of a jam in the top of the 10th, got the win.Paul Konerko hit a ninth-inning homer for the White Sox, who fell into a first-place tie with Minnesota in the AL Central. The White Sox and Twins open a three-game series at U.S.Cellular Field on Tuesday night.Konerko, who earlier made a costly mental mistake in the field, hit the first pitch from closer Alfredo Simon into the left-field seats to tie it at 2. The Sox eventually got the potential tiebreaking run to second base with one out before Mike Gonzalez retired the side.Konerko’s 28th homer was a redemptive shot, because his mental lapse in the sixth helped Baltimore take a 2-1 lead.Down 1-0, the Orioles took advantage of two White Sox mistakes to score twice against starter Edwin Jackson.After Ty Wigginton homered, Luke Scott singled and advanced when third baseman Dayan Viciedo botched a grounder. A single by Felix Pie loaded the bases for Matt Wieters, who hit a hard grounder to Konerko at first. Instead of trying to double up the slow-footed Wieters, Konerko tagged first and threw home too late to get the sliding Scott.Orioles rookie Brian Matusz allowed one run and three hits in six innings. Since Showalter took over, Baltimore starters have pitched at least six innings in seven straight games and have registered a 1.89 ERA.Koji Uehara worked two perfect innings, setting the stage for Simon’s fourth blown save in 21 tries.The White Sox went up 1-0 in the third when Matusz hit Juan Pierre with a pitch on an 0-2 count and yielded a two-out RBI double to Alex Rios.

  

NOTES—Pierre extended his hitting streak to 16 games, tying a career-high. … Seventeen of Wigginton’s 18 homers have come against RHPs. … Konerko’s 28 homers matches his total from last year. … The Orioles are 1-8 on Mondays this season. 

Sox escape with comeback win over O’s

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BALTIMORE—Buck Showalter’s unbeaten run with the Baltimore Orioles is over, and the veteran manager found no consolation watching his last-place team put up a good fight against the AL Central-leading White Sox.Gavin Floyd allowed two runs in seven innings and Carlos Quentin homered in a 4-2 victory Saturday night.The Orioles had won four straight since Showalter made his debut on Tuesday, matching the longest winning streak of the season of the team with the worst record in the majors. Baltimore bolted to an early 2-0 lead in a bid to make it five in a row, but the margin failed to stand up.It was Showalter’s first loss since Oct. 1, 2006, with the Texas Rangers.After Quentin’s 22nd homer in the fourth inning, the Sox added single runs in the seventh and eighth against reliever Jason Berken (3-3) before scoring an unearned run in the ninth.Floyd (8-8) gave up six hits, walked two and struck out five to win his third straight start. The right-hander is 6-1 with a 1.17 ERA in his last nine outings.Matt Thornton worked the eighth, his 21st consecutive scoreless appearance, and J.J. Putz got three outs for his third save. Putz was used by manager Ozzie Guillen instead of his usual closer, Bobby Jenks, who is 0-2 with a 10.56 ERA since the All-Star break.Baltimore was held hitless after Felix Pie singled with no outs in the fourth inning — the fifth straight hit off Floyd.The Sox went up 3-2 in the eighth when Juan Pierre hit a leadoff single, took second on sacrifice bunt and scored when Alex Rios snapped a 4-for-37 skid with a single.Baltimore starter Kevin Millwood allowed four hits in six innings and left with a 2-1 lead. He had yielded five runs in each of his previous five appearances and hadn’t given up only one run in any start since April 11.Berken promptly gave up the advantage, however, in the seventh. After Alexei Ramirez drew a two-out walk, A.J. Pierzynski followed with an RBI double.Pierzynski hurt his left ankle on third base while advancing on the throw to the plate.Baltimore went up 1-0 when Adam Jones led off the second inning with his 16th home run, the first allowed by Floyd in 12 starts since June 2.The Orioles added a run in the third, but a baserunning error cost them a chance for more. After Nick Markakis hit a two-out double and scored on a single by Ty Wigginton, Luke Scott followed with a single. Wigginton headed for third, second-guessed his decision, went anyway and was thrown out to end the inning.Millwood pitched a scoreless first, no small feat considering he allowed at least two first-inning runs in 11 of his previous 12 starts.The exception occurred in the fourth, when Quentin hit a solo shot to center on a 3-1 pitch. It was the AL-high 24th homer allowed by Millwood.

NOTES—Pierre has hit in 14 straight games….Orioles C Matt Wieters has thrown out three would-be stealers in the last two games.Baltimore’s Cesar Izturis was 0 for 3. His next hit will be his 1,000th.

Cubs blow another game, fail to complete ninth inning tally

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Drew Stubbs’ swing was a mess. So was his mind.Nothing that a little trip to Wrigley Field couldn’t fix.Stubbs hurt the Cubs once again, hitting a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning and driving in a pair of runs to lead the surging Cincinnati Reds to a 4-3 victory Saturday.Stubbs doubled and scored in the third, started the eighth with his 14th homer and singled in a run in the ninth. The speedy center fielder snapped out of a 1-for-37 funk after being benched for five games. He is batting .318 with five homers against the Cubs this season.Reds closer Francisco Cordero entered with a 4-1 lead but walked the bases loaded and before forcing in a run by hitting Starlin Castro with an 0-2 pitch. Nick Masset came on and struck out Derrek Lee, walked Aramis Ramirez for the Cubs final run and struck out Marlon Byrd for his second save.Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker, who was fired by the Cubs after the 2006 season, pumped his fist in celebration after Byrd went down.The NL Central-leading Reds have won six of seven to move 15 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 1999 season.The Cubs, who have the NL’s highest payroll and were expected to contend, have dropped nine of 10 to fall to 47-63. They are 3-9 against the Reds this year.Randy Wells (5-10) opened with seven innings of three-hit ball and Cubs manager Lou Piniella let him bat in the bottom of the seventh in a 1-1 game. The Cubs failed to score and Stubbs hit Wells’ second pitch of the eighth into the left-field bleachers.Stubbs also hit a go-ahead grand slam in eighth inning of Cincinnati’s 5-4 victory over the Cuba on April 9, and had a three-homer game at Wrigley Field on July 4. His drive off Wells was his first since he went deep twice against Colorado on July 17.Ramon Hernandez followed Stubbs’ shot with a single and Chris Heisey walked, chasing Wells. After Justin Berg got Brandon Phillips to ground into a double play, Paul Janish singled to make it 3-1.Cincinnati took advantage of second baseman Blake DeWitt’s error in the ninth to extend its lead. DeWitt dropped Laynce Nix’s popup, allowing him to reach second, and Stubbs hit an RBI single to left with two out.Edinson Volquez allowed one run and six hits in 6 2/3 innings for the Reds. Making his fifth start since undergoing major elbow surgery last August, the right-hander threw 105 pitches, his first triple-digit effort since May 10, 2009.Volquez issued two of his four walks in the seventh, when Logan Ondrusek (3-0) came on to get the final out. Ondrusek also worked a hitless eighth.Lee hit a sacrifice fly in the third for the Cubs, driving in Kosuke Fukudome and tying it at 1. Fukudome doubled with one out and moved to third on Castro’s single.Fukudome, who batted .152 in his previous 32 games and lost his right-field job to rookie Tyler Colvin, started consecutive games for the first time in exactly a month. Now Colvin is slumping and Piniella said the rookie will get a few days off.

NOTES—Volquez has a career 0.96 ERA against the Cubs…..It’s not quite Aroldis Chapman’s time, but that time is fast approaching. The Reds called up RHP Carlos Fisher from Triple-A Louisville to replace RHP Russ Springer, who went on the disabled list with a strained left hip. But speaking about the organization’s much-hyped pitching prospect from Cuba, Baker said: “We’ll see Chapman soon enough.” Baker wouldn’t say if that would be before or after Sept. 1, when rosters can be expanded…..Geovany Soto was sidelined by a mild right shoulder sprain. Piniella said Soto won’t play Sunday but he hoped to have him back Monday in San Francisco.

Short handed Rush season ends with loss in Milwaukee

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Chicago Sky

MILWAUKEE—The 2010 Rush season came to an end Saturday night in Milwaukee, as the Rush fell to the Milwaukee Iron 64-54 in the opening round of the Arena Football League playoffs.Ultimately, it was a collection of injuries down the stretch that was the downfall of a team that ended the season losing four of its last five games.

“We just didn’t have the healthy bodies on the field to compete tonight against an opponent that I feel is very capable of winning the ArenaBowl,” said Rush head coach Mike Hohensee. “We were so banged up – especially on the offensive line – that we just couldn’t give our quarterback enough time to make things happen.Despite the way things ended, I really enjoyed coaching this team. The players worked hard all season and were a joy to be around. I would have liked to have seen how things would have turned out if we had been completely healthy.”

Despite its injuries, the Rush (10-7) looked like it had seized the momentum in the game when defensive back Josh Ferguson intercepted a Chris Greisen pass and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown to give the Rush a 27-20 lead with 11:27 remaining in the first half.However, the Rush could not capitalize on the momentum from Ferguson’s big play.After Milwaukee (12-5) scored to tie the game at 27-27, Rush QB J.J. Raterink, who was under intense pressure all night long, was forced to scramble out of the pocket. He was hit from behind and fumbled the ball, which was recovered by the Iron.Two plays later, Greisen hit Damian Harrell for the first of Harrell’s five touchdowns of the night to put the Iron back up seven, 34-27.Raterink (25-42, 295 yards, 7 TDs, 1 INT) brought the Rush right back, connecting with Syvelle Newton on a 13-yard score. However, Chris Gould’s second missed extra point of the game made the score 34-33 with 57 seconds left in the half.After a failed onsides kick attempt gave the Iron the ball with excellent field position, Greisen connected with Harrell again, making the score 41-33.The Rush got the ball with enough time to make a drive of its own, but the Iron defensive pressure was too much for the Rush to overcome, eventually forcing a turnover on downs with two seconds left in the half.The Iron used those two seconds to go up two scores for the first time in the game, as kicker Bob Forstrom connected on a 19-yard field goal that sent the two teams into the locker rooms with the score 44-33.Milwaukee’s momentum carried over to the second half, when Iron DB Carlton Brown intercepted a pass in the Milwaukee end zone.The Iron capitalized again, as Greisen hooked up with Harrell to put Milwaukee up 18, 51-33.However, the Rush kept fighting. After cutting the lead to ten, 64-54 with 4:52 remaining, Ferguson came up big again, forcing an Iron fumble at the Rush 10-yard line that was recovered by the Rush who marched down the field, moving to the Milwaukee 3-yard line. However, the Rush could not punch it into the end zone, ultimately turning the ball over when Raterink fumbled on the goal line trying to score on fourth-and-goal.The Iron took over and ran the clock out to secure the victory.

Sky lose to lowly Minnesota in OT. Near elimination

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Chicago Sky
ROSEMONT—Seimone Augustus scored 27 points, including the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 26.9 seconds left in overtime to lead the Minnesota Lynx to an 87-82 victory over the Sky on Saturday.Lindsay Whalen had 19 points, seven assists and seven rebounds, Charde Houston added 17 points and Monica Wright added 11 to help the Lynx (10-16) rally from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter.Jia Perkins led the Sky (12-17) with 16 points and Sylvia Fowles had 14 points and 11 rebounds. Dominique Canty added 13 points and Tamera Young scored 10 as the Sky lost their season-high fifth straight.Minnesota trailed by 16 at halftime and had runs of 12-0 to open the third quarter and 17-2 to begin the fourth.Augustus’ jumper with 1 minute left in OT gave the Lynx an 80-79 lead. Fowles made 1 of 2 free throws to tie the score about 20 seconds later.After Augustus’ go-ahead 3, Fowles made a layup to pull the Sky to 83-82 with 19.3 seconds to go. Whalen then made two free throws 3 seconds later to put Minnesota up by three again.Perkins missed a potential tying 3 with 10.9 seconds remaining. Whalen got the rebound and was fouled by Canty, and made two more from the line to seal the win.The Sky was 1 for 13 from the field in the fourth quarter, and finished 26 for 70 (37 percent) overall – including 10 for 24 on 3s. The Sky, last in the Eastern Conference, dropped five games behind Washington and New York for third.

“We had it up 16 points, came out flat in the third quarter,” coach Steven Key said. “You allow a 10-0 run, an 11-2 run because you think you have done enough to win a game. Twenty minutes is nothing, I don’t know why we are complacent. We are still fighting for an opportunity, if somebody makes a mistake. for a playoff spot. I don’t know why we are getting complacent (after) we have 20 minutes of good basketball.”

Trailing 66-56 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Lynx rallied and took a 69-68 lead on Nicky Anoskie’s layup with 6:16 to go.Perkins hit a jumper with 3:31 remaining – the Sky’s only field goal of the fourth quarter – to pull to 73-70. Fowles made one free throw and Canty hit two to tie the score with 2 1/2 minutes left, and neither team scored again in regulation.Minnesota trailed 49-33 at halftime, and then held the Sky to 24 points in the third and fourth quarters. Augustus scored seven points as the Lynx scored the first 12 points of the third quarter over the first 3 minutes.Shay Murphy and Perkins responded with consecutive 3s to push the Sky’s lead back to double digits a minute later. Wright hit a 3 and Anosike made 3 of 4 free throws to pull the Lynx to 57-53 with 3:49 remaining in the period.The Sky then had an 8-1 run to take a 65-54 lead on Fowles’ turnaround jumper with about 1 1/2 minutes left.