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06/24/2010 - Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Despite matching a club record with four wild pitches, Manny Parra lasted into the sixth inning to get his first victory in a month as the Milwaukee Brewers edged Minnesota, 5-3, in the second installment of a three-game series.
Rickie Weeks had three hits and three RBI for the Brewers, who set a team record with five wild pitches, but still managed to win their third straight game.
Parra (2-5) threw a wild pitch in the second and fourth innings and two more in the sixth to match Ed Sprague's individual team record. Sprague tossed four wild pitches in a May 14, 1975 game at Texas.
Despite the wildness, Parra earned his first win since June 23 at Minnesota. The left-hander, making his sixth start of the season, allowed seven hits and two runs, while walking two and fanning six over 5 2/3 innings.
Francisco Liriano (6-5) started for the Twins and gave up seven hits and three runs over five frames to lose for the first time in his career (3-1) against the Brewers.
"It was one of those games where I make a good pitch and they hit it," Liriano said. "I wanted to go longer, but I understand this is National League ball."
Delmon Young knocked in two runs, while Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer each had a three-hit night for Minnesota.
The Brewers wasted an opportunity with men on second and third in the opening inning.
Parra's first wild pitch sent Morneau to second base in the second, but Young lined out to end the inning.
Corey Hart doubled to drive in Weeks in the third, and both teams then scored twice in the fourth inning. The Twins loaded the bases with one out, helped by another Parra miscue, and Young delivered a two-run base hit to left. With runners on the corners and two outs, Liriano grounded into a force play to end the frame.
Milwaukee loaded the bases in the bottom half and Weeks came through with a two-run single to center for a 3-2 margin.
Parra unloaded two more wild pitches in a lengthy sixth inning, when the Twins put runners on first and second with two outs. Zach Braddock fanned pinch-hitter Jim Thome to maintain the lead.
Singles by Mauer and Morneau gave Minnesota another chance in the seventh. Kameron Loe then entered and uncorked a wild pitch, sending the runners into scoring position, but Michael Cuddyer struck out swinging to end the threat.
Weeks scored on Ryan Braun's fielder's choice in the bottom of the seventh.
Carlos Villanueva was on the mound for the top of the eighth inning, which ended when Young was caught trying to steal second.
The Brewers padded their lead on Weeks' RBI single in the home half.
Mauer doubled off John Axford to score Denard Span with two outs in the ninth inning. Facing an 0-1 count, Morneau then hit a ball just foul down the right field line. Axford ended up blowing a fastball by Morneau for a called third strike and picked up his sixth save in as many opportunities.
"I told them I was good for an inning so they used me," said Axford, who threw two innings on Tuesday. "It was a great all-around effort for us tonight. In a sense it's been a fairy tale for me so far."
Game Notes
Weeks has 41 RBI from the leadoff spot this season...The Twins had won five consecutive series against the Brewers...The Brewers went 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base.
<< Astros handle Giants
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Keppinger finished 2-for-4 with a three-
run double as Houston topped San Francisco, 6-3, in the middle test of a
three-game series from Minute Maid Park.
Carlos Lee and Chris Johnson both collect
<< Rangers dominate Pirates for 10th straight win
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Young led an offensive assault with
three hits and four runs batted in, as Texas pounded Pittsburgh, 13-3, for its
10th consecutive win in the second of three interleague affairs at Rangers
Ballpar
<< Clemson holds on to edge Oklahoma at CWS; TCU eliminates FSU
Omaha, NE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Hinson went 3-for-4 with two runs batted in,
as Clemson held on to edge Oklahoma 6-4 in the completion of Tuesday's College
World Series game that was suspended by rain.
Scott Weismann picked up the win for
<< Rollins' ninth-inning HR sends Phils past Tribe
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jimmy Rollins, playing in just his
second game following a stint on the disabled list, hit a game-winning two-run
homer with one out in the ninth to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a
comebac
Angels hold off Dodgers in wild ending >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joel Pineiro allowed just one run in 7 1/3
frames, and the Los Angeles Angels continued to win at the expense of their
cross-town rival with a 2-1 victory over the Dodgers.
Pineiro (7-6) allowed just
Lee helps Seattle continue pitching dominance in rout of Cubs >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cliff Lee pitched his second straight complete
game and Seattle continued its incredible mound presence with an 8-1 win over
the Chicago Cubs.
Michael Saunders belted a two-run homer and drove in four
Blackhawks trade Byfuglien to Thrashers >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Playoff hero Dustin Byfuglien has changed
teams as the forward was traded from the Chicago Blackhawks to the Atlanta
Thrashers as part of a seven-player deal.
The Thrashers also acquired forwards Ben Eager and
Yanks rally to beat D'Backs, take series >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Curtis Granderson went 3-for-5 and hit the
game-winning homer in the top of the 10th inning, as the New York Yankees
rallied past the Arizona Diamondbacks, 6-5, in the rubber match of a three-
game in
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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