Tejada back to old self, helps O's win

TORONTO -- No one knew exactly what the problem was with Miguel Tejada. He quietly entered the clubhouse before games, often spending his time in the trainer's room or with headphones from an iPod wrapped around his ears, separating himself from his teammates and the clubhouse atmosphere.
Tejada is the Orioles' unquestioned leader, and his second-half struggles have eerily reflected that of his team. He entered Wednesday's game against Toronto hitting 50 points lower in the second half than he did in the first, watching his MVP hopes wither away right along with the Orioles' chances of competing in the American League East.
The constant losing of the past few months, in addition to the controversies of Rafael Palmeiro and Sidney Ponson, muted the usually unrestrained Tejada.
But before he took the field for the game with the Blue Jays, Tejada announced to his teammates that his personality exile was over. He was going to return to his chatty, gregarious self, and he was going to return to the role of carrying the club on his back.
Tejada got major help from left-hander Bruce Chen, who allowed just two singles in eight masterful innings, and he added a three-run homer in a 7-0 win over the Blue Jays in front of 24,686 at the Rogers Centre.
"We're losing, and everybody was kind of down a little bit," Tejada said. "That's [why] I [said], 'I'm back and I'm loud.' And I just started joking around."
Tejada capped off a poor month by his standards. Before the home run, he went seven games without an RBI and batted .277 in August, a whopping 53 points lower than in June and July. Finally, Tejada said he reached a pinnacle of frustration on Monday just before Baltimore was swept by Oakland, telling a reporter he was seriously considering ending his streak of consecutive games played, which is now at 888.
"I was really embarrassed when I said that," Tejada said. "We were losing so many games to Oakland. I take it back. Not yet. I am going to keep playing hard [and] be in the lineup every day. I'm going to let God decide when it is going to be the last day. But I'm not going to take the day off."
So the Orioles have their leader reinvigorated for the final month, and they also have a potential No. 3 starter for next season in Chen, who has been better than the team could have expected from a No. 5 starter.
He was brilliant Wednesday, allowing just a second-inning infield single by Aaron Hill and an eighth-inning single by Corey Koskie. Between those two hits, Chen retired 18 consecutive batters, throwing a crisp fastball along with a wicked curveball. He tied his season high with seven strikeouts as Toronto's Nos. 1-4 hitters finished 0-for-11.
And he was helped by Tejada's three-run home run in the third inning off Gustavo Chacin that gave the O's a 4-0 lead.

"I felt like I was throwing all my pitches for strikes," Chen said. "That was the key. I had all my command. And the early run support really helped. I felt like I could just go out there and throw strikes and keep the ball in play."
Chen does not have a Major League shutout, and he was pushing interim manager Sam Perlozzo to let him go out for the ninth inning. But Chen had thrown 104 pitches, and the Orioles scored two more runs to lengthen the ninth inning, so Perlozzo opted for reliever Chris Ray.
"Yeah, I wanted to go back out there," Chen said. "But Sam is the manager, and he makes the best decisions. But coming that close, you want to finish it out."
Said Perlozzo: "I really didn't think about it too much. He had pitched eight strong innings, and if he puts a couple of runners on base, you have to go out there and get him. So he comes out the game on the good, positive note and feels good about himself."
Chen likely has pitched his way into the 2006 rotation with his sparkling season. His 11 wins are second to Rodrigo Lopez (13), and his 3.75 ERA is second to Erik Bedard's 3.42. After edging Rick Bauer for the final spot in the rotation in March, Chen has emerged as a reliable starter with the ability to spin games such as the one on Wednesday.
"I feel like I did the best I can to help the team, and hopefully I can come back next year and help," he said. "I love playing here and I have learned a lot about pitching. I feel I am a different pitcher than I was before. And I hope I have proven that this year."

Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/

Sid Hartman: Timberwolves fined $200,000

The Timberwolves have been fined $200,000 for staging their recent get-together in Las Vegas, an NBA source said.
This was a voluntary camp, and players came on their own, but the team paid players' expenses, contrary to NBA rules.
The only players missing were new point guard Marko Jaric, who is playing in Europe, and Eddie Griffin, who is on probation and couldn't leave Houston.
Wolves owner Glen Taylor had checked with other teams and thought the trip was permitted, but apparently the rule regarding such camps was changed in the past year. Taylor could not be reached for comment regarding the fine and whether he will appeal the decision by the NBA.
As expected, Michael Finley passed up the Wolves and decided to cast his lot with the defending champion Spurs.
The Wolves still are looking for at least one more player. They could make a deal with Memphis for point guard Earl Watson or might try to sign forward Reggie Evans, a restricted free agent with Seattle.
Must win for Gophers
The Gophers football team is a 15-point favorite to beat Tulsa tonight in a game that will be played in 90-degree temperatures.
The team hasn't practiced in that type of heat, which is a concern for the coaching staff.
The Gophers coaches also don't have any idea what type of defense Tulsa will play or what it will do offensively.
Despite all of this, the Gophers should be able to win the game decisively.
Glen Mason and his assistants have a lot of optimism because they believe they have one of the best offensive lines in the country and have wide receivers and running backs capable of moving the ball against any opponent.
However, even the coaches are eager to see if the defense can pick up where it left off in the Music City Bowl victory over Alabama and not give up big yardage on third down like it did during the regular season.
Goldberg to get chance
Steve Loney, the Vikings offensive line coach and offensive coordinator, said Adam Goldberg will play most of Friday's game against Seattle in an effort to see whether he can handle the backup position to starter Cory Withrow.
The Vikings don't have any other centers. Free agent Kyle Schmitt is a practice squad candidate, and Anthony Herrera has an infection and won't be available for some time.
There isn't any doubt that the Vikings will be checking the cutdown list Sunday to see if any experienced centers are available. They also could try to make a deal for a center.
Goldberg might develop into a fine center, but it is going to take some time for him to master the position
Twins can't hit
Only Oakland -- with a team ERA of 2.16 for the month of August -- had a better ERA than the Twins, who posted a very impressive 2.40 ERA.
The pitching was great, but the Twins went 16-14 in August because they hit .248, ranking 22nd of the 30 teams in the majors.
The Twins scored 115 runs. Only five teams scored fewer in August. The Twins had 108 RBI. Only six teams had fewer.
The White Sox hit even worse (.244), but they hit 34 home runs for the month compared with only 23 for the Twins. And, after dominating the division early, the Sox did suffer a slump in August.
It's obvious that things have changed and that the league is much more competitive than it was when the Twins won the three consecutive division titles. As a result, the Twins must find a couple of infielders who can hit, because the competition in the division might get even tougher with the White Sox, Tigers and Indians all showing improvement.
The Twins won World Series in 1987 and 1991 with a bunch of players -- Kent Hrbek, Kirby Puckett, Tim Laudner and Gary Gaetti -- who made the majors at a very young age and took their lumps for a while before developing into great major leaguers.
Anybody who believes the young players on this team are in the same category and will develop like the players did on the 1987 and 1991 teams hasn't talked with the many scouts who have visited the Metrodome. The 1-0 loss to the Royals on Wednesday is typical of what has happened all year.

Source: http://startribune.com/

New month, same story for Royals

Here it was a new month, and Royals manager Buddy Bell, fresh off a hole in one earlier in the day, suggested before Thursday’s game that maybe his club’s fortunes were about to change.
Nope.
Not yet, anyway, thanks to two homers by Texas catcher Rod Barajas and a boatload of missed opportunities that channeled into a 5-4 loss at Kauffman Stadium.
“We didn’t capitalize,” said center fielder Chip Ambres, who had two of the Royals’ 12 hits and ended the game standing on third with the potential tying run.
“That’s got to change because that’s been one of our biggest problems.”
The Royals stranded four runners at third, including three who got that far with fewer than two outs.
“We did have a lot of opportunities,” Bell agreed. “We just couldn’t do a lot with them. Kenny Rogers made some good pitches to get out of those jams. He’s been doing that for years.”
Not so much lately, though.
This was Rogers’ first victory in five starts since returning from a 13-game suspension for shoving a TV cameraman. To get it, he needed to pitch around 11 hits in seven-plus innings — and then sweat out threats in the eighth and ninth against the bullpen.
The Rangers had a sufficient cushion, thanks to Barajas, who clubbed his 15th and 16th homers of the season on well-placed drives down the left-field line.
Barajas’ first homer was a three-run blast off the left-field foul pole in a four-run fourth inning against Royals starter J.P. Howell.
“A 3-1 fastball inside,” Howell said. “I didn’t want to walk him. That same pitch next time, maybe he pops it straight up.”
Or maybe it curls a few more inches and goes foul.
Then again, Barajas’ second homer was eerily similar, high and tight to the line on Ambiorix Burgos’ first pitch in the seventh inning. It missed the foul pole — although not by much — and proved to be the winning run.
Steve Karsay, Brian Shouse and Francisco Cordero closed out the victory for Rogers, who improved to 12-7 by beating the Royals for the third time in three starts this season.
Cordero worked a scoreless ninth and got his 30th save in 37 opportunities.
The Royals finished with 12 hits, including two apiece from Ambres, Joe McEwing, Terrence Long, Angel Berroa and Matt Diaz. That was sufficient to trigger the season’s 13th Krispy Kreme doughnut giveaway.
It just wasn’t enough to win.
The Royals built a 2-0 lead on two-out RBI singles by Diaz in the second and Long in the third. McEwing had an RBI single in the fifth after Texas produced its four-run fourth.
Berroa’s RBI single in the eighth trimmed the lead to one run again after Barajas’ second homer.
Howell, 1-5, gave up four runs and five hits before exiting after six innings and a career-high 108 pitches. He struck out seven and walked two.
“Overall, I liked what I saw,” Bell said. “He’s starting to understand how to use his pitches. I like his stuff.”
Rogers carried a 5-3 lead into the eighth but left after Long opened the inning with a double. Karsay retired Emil Brown on a fly to right that allowed Long to reach third. John Buck then drew a walk before Berroa flicked an RBI single into center.
The Royals sent Aaron Guiel up to bat for Diaz, which prompted Texas manager Buck Showalter to bring in Shouse for a lefty-lefty matchup.
Bell countered by sending Paul Phillips up to bat for Guiel.
All this maneuvering produced a fielder’s-choice force at second when Phillips grounded back to the pitcher.
The Royals then loaded the bases on a walk to Justin Huber, but Shouse stranded all three runners by slipping a called strike past Denny Hocking on a 3-2 pitch.
The Royals got the tying run to third base in the ninth after Cordero opened the inning with a walk to Ambres, who reached second on McEwing’s sacrifice and third on Long’s ground out.
That left it up to Brown, whose single in the ninth inning Wednesday provided the only run Wednesday in 1-0 victory over the Twins.
This time, he ended the game by striking out on a checked swing.

Source: http://www.kansas.com/

Sabathia, Indians Topple Twins 6-1

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - C.C. Sabathia was superb in Cleveland's 6-1 win over Minnesota, allowing three hits over seven and a-third.Sabathia had a no-hitter until he surrendered two-out singles to Jason Bartlett and Shannon Stewart in the sixth inning. He's won six straight starts for the first time in his five major league seasons, leaving him 12-9 this year.Ben Broussard homered and had three RBI's in the Indians' eleventh victory in 14 games. Grady Sizemore added a homer and two RBI's while Ronnie Belliard collected three hits.The Indians reached Brad Radke for three earned runs and nine hits in seven innings. Radke is 8-11.

Source: http://www.keloland.com/

Twins' Faith in Liriano Could Finally Pay Off

In November 2003, Francisco Liriano was an afterthought in the trade that sent catcher A. J. Pierzynski to the Giants and pitcher Joe Nathan to the Twins. Liriano was coming off an injury-plagued season, and San Francisco included him and pitcher Boof Bonser, another minor leaguer, in the trade.
Finally healthy this season, Liriano has emerged as one of the top pitchers in the Twins' organization, if not in the entire minor leagues.

While Pierzynski played just one season for the Giants before signing with the White Sox as a free agent, Nathan has saved 78 games for the Twins since the trade, and Bonser leads the Class AAA International League with 161 strikeouts. But Liriano has made a bigger impression this season and was rewarded yesterday with a call-up to Minnesota.
After being promoted to Class AAA Rochester in June, Liriano posted a 9-2 record with a 1.78 earned run average, 112 strikeouts and 24 walks over 91 innings.
Liriano, a 6-foot-2 left-hander, was third in the International League in strikeouts even though he was the only pitcher among the top 20 who had thrown fewer than 100 innings.
He was the starter for the World Team in this year's Future's Game and threw a perfect first inning. This week, he was named the International League's rookie of the year.
"This year I just wanted to stay healthy," Liriano, 21, said in a telephone interview. "Things have just got better and better. I've come a long way, but I just got to keep working and see what happens."
One of the things Liriano has been working on is maintaining a consistent motion to avoid putting additional strain on his left elbow, which gave him problems in 2003.
"There were some things he was doing wrong, and we just tried to find a way where he could finish his motion where it wouldn't be so much strain on his body," said Bobby Cuellar, the Rochester pitching coach. "He's done a lot of individual work on it, and he's done pretty well with it."
Earlier this season, the Twins balked at including Liriano in a trade for Texas second basemen Alfonso Soriano, and the deal fell through. Liriano said that despite the comparisons to Johan Santana, Minnesota's Cy Young Award winner, and all the other attention he has drawn, he needed to keep his focus.
World Cup Is Under Way
The 2005 World Cup began yesterday in the Netherlands, with the Netherlands defeating China, 13-3, in the first game.
The tournament, the largest official international event of the year, runs through Sept. 17. Amateur players and those not on the 40-man rosters of major league organizations comprise the rosters.
The United States team has a distinctly Queens flavor thanks to two players from the Mets organization and a former Mets manager. Outfielder Lastings Milledge (Class AA Binghamton) and the right-handed pitcher Brian Bannister (Class AAA Norfolk) are on the team, which will be managed by Davey Johnson, who guided the Mets to their last World Series title, in 1986.
The Greek team withdrew for financial reasons and will be replaced by the Czech Republic.
Isotopes' Slugger Is Hot
Albuquerque outfielder Mike Colangelo hit a solo home run in the bottom of the second inning of the Isotopes' 11-6 victory over Round Rock on Wednesday night, giving him home runs in six straight games. He was one shy of the Pacific Coast League (Class AAA) record, set in 1977 by Claude Westmoreland, but he failed to hit a home run on Thursday night. The Anaheim Angels selected Colangelo in the 21st round of the draft in 1997.
Steroids Joke in Richmond
The Richmond Roosters of the independent Frontier League are proud of the fact that they have never had a player test positive for steroids, and now they are going to take their drug policy even further, or so they joke in a recent promotion.
"We're planning on doing some random fan testing between now and the end of the season," Deanna Beaman, the team's vice president and general manager, said in a release. "We owe it to our players."
Beaman said testing would be conducted in and around Don McBride Stadium.
"We'll take notice if we see any weight gains," she said.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/

Chuck Foreman, the former Vikings running back great, agrees that University...

Chuck Foreman, the former Vikings running back great, agrees that University of Minnesota junior running back Laurence Maroney is a marvelous talent. But Foreman has some advice for the 5-foot-11 212-pounder.
"He's the total package physically; now all he's got to do is keep his feet well-grounded, don't let this go to his head," Foreman said. "He's going to make a lot of money. He had 188 yards in the first half against Tulsa, which isn't a bad football team. The only thing he's got to remember is where he's from, because it can all be gone in a second with an injury. So he'd better treat everybody well when he meets them. He'd better stay humble."

) Maroney has put on 10 pounds since last season and says it hasn't affected his speed. "I might be quicker," he said.
) Vikings center Matt Birk, 27, insists he plans to play at least five more years after recovering from hip surgery to be performed this week.
) Gophers center Greg Eslinger is the top offensive lineman in college football, according to ESPN.
The Twins highlighted Eslinger and Bismarck, N.D., high school sweetheart-fiancee Stephanie Todd on their video Kiss Cam between innings of their game against Cleveland on Friday night at the Metrodome.
) Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper, asked what it's like looking downfield at rookie wide receiver Troy Williamson this season rather than departed Randy Moss: "Ask me that question in December."
) That was Gophers football coach Glen Mason and some of his staff at the Cretin-Derham Hall victory over Hastings on Friday night watching 6-5, 275-pound Cretin-Derham offensive tackle Matt Carufel, the state's top prep prospect.
) Braham's 6-7 Isaiah Dahlman is making his official basketball recruiting visit to Michigan State this weekend.
) Twins designated hitter Matthew LeCroy, who has 14 home runs, uses maple bats in batting practice because they're less likely to break and ash bats during games.
) The Wild, who have had six NHL entry drafts, have what is believed to be a league-high 10 former first-round picks on their roster, including seven top-10 picks.
) Ex-Twins outfielder Michael Restovich of Rochester, Minn., will play in Venezuela this winter after finishing the season with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
) Silas McKinnie, who was a Gophers basketball assistant under Clem Haskins, has a three-year deal as a scout for the Detroit Lions.
) Twins owner Carl Pohlad, 90, who is a decorated World War II U.S. Army veteran, will join other decorated WWII vets in an on-the-field military tribute before Wednesday's game against Texas at the Metrodome.
) Among reasons the Dallas Cowboys remain interested in injured ex-Gophers running back Marion Barber III is that he had high-production games at Minnesota against teams with highly ranked defenses.
) Hastings' Matt Van Der Bosch, a nephew of ex-Twin John Castino, was promoted to the Boston Red Sox's Class AA Portland club from Class A Greenville.
) Twins general manager Terry Ryan, asked whether adding offense will be a priority this winter: "We'll worry about the wintertime when the wintertime comes. Let's get through the month of September first."
) There's a decent chance that running back Tellis Redmon, who left the Gophers after his junior season two years ago, will make the final cut of the Baltimore Ravens.
) Ken Mauer Jr. of St. Paul begins his 20th season as an NBA official this year.
) Tom Barnes from St. Paul begins his 20th season as an NFL official this year.
) Brad James, who coached the Gophers to the NCAA men's golf championship three years ago, projects his team will be ranked among the nation's top 10 teams by the end of the year.
) Retired Gophers track and field coach Roy Griak, who turns 82 next month, still does 200 sit-ups a day in addition to regular weightlifting.
) Jason Litzau, 22, the undefeated (15-0) super-featherweight pro boxer from St. Paul, said chances are 80 percent favorable that his next fight will be in New Jersey next month rather than in Minnesota.
) Michael Jordan's personal trainer, Tim Grover, will join ex-Utah coach Rick Majerus as speakers at the Sept. 10 basketball coaches clinic at Concordia-St. Paul.
) The Gophers have 46 Minnesotans on their football roster and 16 players from Ohio.
) Dan Terhaar, because he already is employed by Minnesota Wild rights holder WCCO-AM, is expected to be announced as the Wild's TV play-by-play voice.
) The advertising business belonging to Timberwolves free agent John Thomas is expanding to New York and Los Angeles.
) Mark Mullaney, son of former Vikings defensive end Mark Mullaney, is a solid backup sophomore linebacker for the Gophers.
) Shakopee's Mike Nevin, who officiated Big Ten Conference football for 21 years, will be a Bg Ten timing official this season.
) Ndudi Ebi of the Timberwolves is working out with ex-Gopher Kris Humphries of the Utah Jazz at UCLA.
) Hill-Murray freshman Nick Pryor, son of former North Star Chris Pryor, was rated the No. 2 defenseman at the Select 15 Festival in St. Cloud by U.S. Hockey Report.
) Wild chairman Bob Naegele Jr, says Xcel Energy Center, which will publicly celebrate its fifth anniversary Tuesday with a barbecue outside the arena, "is cleaner than I've ever seen it. We've had a year (during the NHL lockout) to polish it up."
) Vikings Nate Burleson, Brad Johnson, Michael Bennett and Mike Rosenthal will co-host with Ron Johnson on a weekly "Huddle up!" Fox TV show beginning Sept. 13 at 9:30 p.m.
) Gophers offensive guard Mark Setterstrom is projected as a middle round (Nos. 3-5) pick for April's NFL draft, according to NFLdraftcountdown.com.
) Ex-Gopher Doug Beaudoin, who played seven years in the NFL, is in the NFL alumni marketing business in Tampa, Fla.
) The Gophers men's hockey team this season will have six players - Blake Wheeler, Chris Chucko, Ryan Stoa, Jeff Frazee, Nate Hagemo and Alex Goligoski - who have been picked in the first two rounds of the NHL draft, and another, Phil Kessel, who could be the No. 1 pick in next year's draft.
) Concordia Academy grad Andy Aurich is a senior starting football center for Princeton University.
) Former Gophers-Twins infielder Brian Raabe, who is baseball coach at Forest Lake, has joined Mainstreet Bank in Forest Lake as a commercial lending officer.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/

Whoops!

MINNEAPOLIS -- For much of this season, it has been lying in the weeds, ominously eyeing the Indians' wild card hopes.
Yesterday, the Indians' shaky defense struck. Again.

For the second consecutive game, the Indians were seriously hurt by their own inability to catch and throw the ball, as the Tribe lost to the Minnesota Twins 7-5. After C.C. Sabathia's gem in a 6-1 Indians win Friday night, the Indians lost the last two games of the series, their first series loss since they were swept by Tampa Bay at home Aug. 12-14. The series loss to the Twins was only the second series the Indians have lost in their last 11 series. The Indians have now lost consecutive games for the first time since Aug. 13-14. Jake Westbrook, who deserved better, pitched six innings and took the loss, dropping his record to 13-14. Starting with the ninth inning Saturday night, the Indians made four errors in the span of five innings. Errors are bad at any time of the season. Errors in September are postseason killers. The Indians were charged with two but should have had three errors yesterday. However, when Casey Blake dropped a fly ball to right with the bases loaded in the seventh inning, allowing all three runners to score, it was inexplicably ruled a double by Mike Redmond.Of the four main contenders in the American League wild-card race, the Indians are by far the worst team defensively. The Angels lead the league in fielding percentage. Oakland is third and the Yankees are fourth. The Indians? Tenth. With the wild card race expected to remain tight right through to the end of the season, mistakes could eventually decide it.''Defensively, we've been throwing the ball around a little bit,'' manager Eric Wedge said. ''We made some mistakes and they took advantage of them.''Saturday night, the Indians made two huge ones in the ninth inning, when they made errors on consecutive bunts resulting in a 3-2 loss. Yesterday, the Indians made one error each in the third and fourth innings to hand the Twins two more runs.But first, the Indians took a 1-0 lead, thanks to Travis Hafner's 24th home run of the season, a monstrous shot into the upper deck in right center field, off Twins starter Scott Baker. Westbrook pitched two scoreless innings before the Indians' defense reared its ugly head in the bottom of the third. Jason Bartlett was at third base with one out, and Nick Punto the batter. On a pitch to Punto, Bartlett strayed too far from third, and was pick off-able. But catcher Victor Martinez threw wildly to third for an error, allowing Bartlett to score the tying run. The Twins took a 2-1 lead the next inning, which began with another Tribe error. Lew Ford hit a chopper to third that Aaron Boone fielded and threw wildly to first, a near duplication of his throwing error in the ninth inning Saturday night. ''There are going to be days when these things happen,'' Wedge said. ''We need to put it behind us and come ready to play (today).''Ford went to second on Boone's error, and later scored on a double to left field by Juan Castro, giving the Twins a 2-1 lead. The Twins returned the favor in the sixth inning, with some sloppy defense of their own. Grady Sizemore singled and went to third on a double by Coco Crisp. Jhonny Peralta then hit a high chopper to third that was dropped by Castro for an error. Sizemore scored on the play, tying the game at 2. Hafner lined out to the pitcher, but Martinez drew a walk, loading the bases and sending Baker to the showers, relieved by Jesse Crain. The Twins turned a grounder to short hit by Ron Belliard into a force out at second, but Belliard beat the throw to first to stay out of the double play, allowing Crisp to score, giving the Indians a 3-2 lead. The Twins took the lead for good in the sixth inning, on a two-out, two-run single by Shannon Stewart. Ford led off with a single and went to second on an infield single by Castro. Westbrook got Mike Redmond on a fly ball for the second out, but Bartlett walked to load the bases. Stewart then smashed the first pitch he saw into center field for a single, scoring two runs, and giving the Twins a 4-3 lead. ''I just didn't make pitches when I needed to,'' Westbrook said. ''The bottom line is the guys gave me the lead and I didn't hold it.''Scott Sauerbeck, in relief of Westbrook, pitched into a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the bottom of the seventh. Rafael Betancourt, in relief of Sauerbeck, struck out Castro. But Redmond hit the fly ball to right that Blake dropped, allowing three runs to score. The Indians added a couple late insurance runs, one coming on a home run by Ben Broussard off Joe Nathan in the ninth, but that was as close as the Indians got, ending an ugly two days in Minnesota.

Source: http://www.zwire.com/

White Sox win fifth straight game

BOSTON (AP) - Most of the Chicago White Sox weren't too excited about giving up their Labor Day for a one-day road trip to Boston. For Brandon McCarthy, it was the opportunity of a lifetime.
"I don't have the advantage of picking and choosing things like that," the 22-year-old rookie said after pitching seven shutout innings to beat the Red Sox 5-3 Monday.
McCarthy got the spot start in a reluctantly scheduled makeup of an August rainout and extended his scoreless streak to 14 2-3 innings.
"To get to throw in Fenway is just fun throughout," he said. "Me and a couple other guys here are a couple weeks removed from nine-hour bus rides or plane flights at six in the morning. So having a one-day road trip is not a bad deal."
Chicago earned its fifth consecutive victory to remain 9 1/2 games ahead of second-place Cleveland and drop its magic number for clinching the AL Central to 17. Boston lost for just the third time in 24 home games, and its AL East lead was cut to three games ahead of the idle New York Yankees.
The Red Sox were cautiously encouraged by the performance of former ace Curt Schilling and former closer Keith Foulke, stars of last year's World Series run who have struggled this season. Manager Terry Francona called both outings a "step in the right direction."
Schilling (5-7) gave up four runs, nine hits, three walks and a hit batter in 6 1-3 innings, striking out four. Still, it was the first time in six starts this season that Schilling, who is recovering from ankle surgery, allowed fewer than five earned runs.
Foulke pitched 1 2-3 hitless innings in his second scoreless outing since missing 50 games for left knee surgery.
"I felt as strong when I came out of the game as I did when I went in," said Schilling, whose 118 pitches matched a season high. "To go out against a kid that's throwing the ball as well as Brandon threw the ball today, there's no margin of error."
McCarthy (2-1) allowed three hits and a walk, striking out seven and possibly forcing his way into the White Sox rotation. Up and down from Triple-A since making his major league debut on May 22, he has won both starts in his latest recall to lower his ERA from 8.14 to 5.08.
"He pitched two big games for us," said Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen, who is planning to talk to general manager Kenny Williams about the rookie's role. "It's going to be a real interesting talk."
The game was a makeup of an Aug. 14 rainout that was called when Chicago was leading 5-2 in the fourth inning. Neither team was thrilled about giving up a home day off on a holiday; the White Sox had to interrupt a 10-game homestand, and Boston will play on 30 consecutive days.
The White Sox left five pitchers behind for the one-game trip - the team's first since 1990 - and catcher A.J. Pierzynski returned to Florida to be with his pregnant wife.
"I told my players, 'Don't just come here and play the game just to fill out the schedule," Guillen said. "It's a big game for us."
Paul Konerko homered and Juan Uribe had a single, a double and a homer for the White Sox. Boston got just one runner to third before the ninth, when Tony Graffanino hit a three-run homer with two outs off Bobby Jenks.
Schilling shut out Chicago for three innings before Konerko doubled and scored in the fourth. Uribe doubled to make it 2-0, took third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Tadahito Iguchi's squeeze bunt.
Konerko homered to lead off the sixth and make it 4-0, and Uribe homered to open the ninth.

Source: http://msn.foxsports.com/

Thirty years since Tommy John surgery, and recovery is still hard for today's patients

The season for the Minnesota Twins is not going as well as the team had hoped. They are behind in the race for the playoffs after three consecutive American League Central Division titles. The season is not going quite as well as pitcher Joe Mays had hoped either. He is a former starting pitcher who is struggling in his first season since he had a major operation on his elbow known as Tommy John surgery. Mays is going down a road that Tommy John, the pitcher, blazed thirty years ago when he took a whole season off to recuperate from the original operation. That road has gotten more and more crowded over the years, and now includes Mays, and fellow Twins pitcher Grant Balfour. Minnesota Public Radio's Eugene Cha looks back at the first Tommy John operation, and shows us what today's pitchers face in recovery.
St. Paul, Minn. — In the mid-1970s, Los Angeles Dodger pitcher Tommy John was in the prime of his career. But that was about to change.
"I was at the game and he threw one pitch that went into the stands," says Dr. Frank Jobe, the team's doctor at the time.

Right away he suspected that John, a left-hander, had damaged the main ligament on the inside of his left elbow. He also knew the fate of most of the pitchers who suffered from that injury.
"They went back to their hometown and got a job. Because that was what they used to think of as blowing your arm out. And then they couldn't pitch," says Jobe.
He diagnosed a torn Unlar Collateral Ligament in the elbow. At the time, there was no way to repair the damage surgically.
"I kind of thought he was through," says Jobe.
But he also said that John did not want to give up on his baseball career.
"I might not have done it if he hadn't been the kind of person he was, in that he was very smart," says Jobe. "And he said, 'I don't want to quit.' He said 'I've got to get this fixed.' And finally we came up with the idea of what to do, and he came back and said 'let's do it.'"

What Dr. Jobe did was take a tendon from John's right forearm, one the body has little use for, and put it in his left elbow.
"I had done that before in a polio patient to stabalize an ankle," says Jobe. "And so I knew that was a good source of tendon. And hand then surgeons were using that particular tendon to replace tendons in the fingers when they had been severely damaged."
In the surgery, Dr. Jobe drilled a hole through the bone of the upper arm above John's left elbow, and drilled another hole in the Ulnar bone below the elbow. Then he threaded the tendon through the first hole in the upper arm, pulled it down past the funny bone, and through the hole in the lower arm. The tendon was long enough to do this multiple times, up and down, in a figure eight pattern. Then, he tucked the ends of the tendons inside the bones, where they could get a good supply of blood. He wanted the tendon to attach itself to the bones, like the ligament.
"I thought I could do the operation and fix it. The thing I didn't know is whether the body would accept it and make it part of the elbow, in other words, would it last. He began to feel good pretty quick. But I didn't want him to start throwing, because we weren't sure if the tendon had assimilated yet," says Jobe.
Instead, he wanted John to rehab. But there was no established program for the new procedure. So, Jobe made one up on the fly. The program he developed was an early version of what Twins reliever Grant Balfour is going through this summer. He had Tommy John surgery in May, after he had trouble with his throwing arm.

"I was throwing and I felt I strained my forearm. I didn't really feel anything in my elbow. It was my forearm compensating for my elbow," says Balfour.
Balfour is a long way from his native Australia. He is working out in a rehab room in Edina. Tommy John specialists, including Dr. Jobe, say physicians have almost perfected the operation. It is the grueling 12 month rehab that has become the biggest factor in a pitcher's attempt to come back from the injury. And it is the rehab that has seen the most improvement since Tommy John's recovery in the '70s. Doctors have developed an elaborate rehab protocol that includes a set of milestones to be reached over the 12 months. And the rehab on the arm begins right after the operation.
"It's in a brace. And it's locked up, right here, across your body," says Balfour. "You can't move it. And it stays like that for a week. And each week, on this brace, they have a dial, which opens up the amount of degrees you can use your arm. So it goes from being immobile to the amount of mobility you do have is very limited, such as maybe 30 degrees, then 60 degrees, then 90 degrees. And you eventually get it to where you can straighten it. And then once the brace comes off, you have to work on stretches and the rehab."
Balfour still needs to build strength, and he does that with Carolyn Flood, his physical therapist. She is going to help him do special strength exercises called manuals.
"So, now what we're doing over the course of this time is some more shoulder strengthening for Grant," says Flood.
Balfour begins this session by lying down on his back on the edge of a padded table. His arm is extended outward, and she is standing next to him. He begins to wave his arm back and fourth. She is constantly pushing back against his arm. "I'm just giving him resistance instead of him doing it with a weight, I'm adding it," says Flood. "And he does it quite fast, so I have to keep up."
She says manuals are good because she can resist his arm muscles in both directions, never allowing him to rest. Balfour says doing manuals day after day has become tedious. But it is now more than three months since his operation, and he is on the verge of a new milestone.
"I can start to actually start to throw 15 feet, with like a little weighted ball into a wall. I can actually start to throw for the first time," says Balfour.

Two weeks after that, if all goes well, Balfour can expect to throw a real baseball 30 feet, nice and easy. Then he can throw 60, 90 and 120 feet. Each is a milestone over another two or three months. Then, he should be able to throw batting practice.
Former Twins starting pitcher Joe Mays was throwing batting practice just as Balfour was having his elbow diagnosed this spring. Mays was finishing his Tommy John recovery, after missing all of last season. In an interview at the Metrodome, Mays talked about Tommy John surgery being a psychological battle as well as a physical one. He even struggled with the decision to have the operation.
"You know, going into it I was real scared," says Mays. "You have thousands of questions. What's the the percentage of coming back to where you were? What's the rehab like? How long is it? How long do I have to wait before I can throw a ball? You've just got millions and millions of questions."
The success rate for Tommy John surgery for major leaguers is about 93 percent, according to Dr. Jobe. After his surgery, Mays was dedicated to his rehab program, maybe too dedicated. He tried to accelerate his rehab when his elbow began to feel fine. He tried throw his trademark sinker ball earlier than scheduled.
"That's where I don't think the ligament was quite ready for that and I think that's where I had the setback," says Mays.
A subsequent operation to remove scar tissue made him physically healthy again as this season began. But Mays' comeback this year has been up and down. He pitched well in the first half of the season, but after the All Star break in July, he has struggled. He was recently demoted to the bullpen. The Twins and Mays have not said whether his arm is worn out because of the surgery.
The long road back for Tommy John ended in 1976 when he took the mound with his own worries about whether his arm would hold up for a whole season. The answer was yes -- and then some. He went on to pitch 14 more years in the big leagues, two years longer than he had pitched before his now famous operation.

Source: http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/

A's dealing with injuries to key players

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - The Oakland Athletics are banged up at the wrong time.
Outfielder Bobby Kielty is out indefinitely with a strained right oblique muscle sustained on a swing during Sunday's 7-3 loss to the New York Yankees, ace Barry Zito is having spasms below his right shoulder blade, and center fielder Mark Kotsay still wasn't back in the lineup Monday.
The health of No. 2 starter Rich Harden is still in question, too.
All that and reigning AL Rookie of the Year shortstop Bobby Crosby is sidelined with a broken left ankle.
The A's began the day trailing the Los Angeles Angels by one game in the AL West race and also one game behind the Yankees in the wild-card standings.
Manager Ken Macha slowly went over his lengthy list of injured players before Monday's game against the Seattle Mariners.
Kotsay missed his eighth straight game with soreness in his back and was possibly going to hit in the cage with the intent of returning to the lineup Tuesday. He also did some rotational exercises and worked out on the treadmill.
"Tomorrow, as long as I don't do anything crazy today," said Kotsay, who had more treatment on his back. "I feel good today."
Zito woke up before his start Sunday with pain in upper ribs below his shoulder on his non-throwing side. He saw a chiropractor to have a rib popped back in place and the Yankees proceeded to knock the lefty out of the game after 3 1-3 innings to match his shortest outing of the year.
Zito will get an extra day before his next turn, Saturday at Texas. Davis said this should be an isolated incident and that Zito was able to do all his baseball work Monday.
He wasn't about to sit out his start Sunday, when he came in after one inning and reported that he was fine.
"I'm not missing any starts, no way," Zito said. "I know my body."
Harden, nursing a muscle strain in his right side, made 20 throws on flat ground from 90 feet before the game. The A's hope to have him back on the mound Sunday at Texas, though trainer Larry Davis hinted that timeline could be optimistic.
"Everything has to go perfect," Davis said. "We're working toward that date. We'll see if we make it."
For Kielty, it could be several weeks. He tried to test his ribcage are by taking more swings with no luck. Macha wasn't sure whether the A's would turn to Triple-A Sacramento for another outfielder in the coming days.
"This one may take a while," Davis said. "It's pretty sore. He didn't come in feeling very chipper today."
Crosby, who missed nearly two months with two fractured ribs early in the season, is on the 15-day disabled list after getting hurt Aug. 27 at Baltimore in a collision with Orioles catcher Sal Fasano.

Source: http://msn.foxsports.com/

Dullucci Leads Texas Hitting Attack

MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- David Dellucci hit a three-run double to back a strong start by Kameron Loe, and the Texas Rangers beat the Minnesota Twins 7-to-nothing today.
Loe (8-and-4) allowed five hits in eight innings, the longest ofhis three starts this season. C.J. Wilson pitched a one-hit ninthas Texas won for the 11th time in 15 games.
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On Aug. 26, Loe pitched five innings in a 6-to-0 win against theTwins at Texas. He is unbeaten in three starts this season.
Minnesota made two errors that led to five unearned runs anddropped 5½ games behind the New York Yankees, the AL wild-cardleader. The Twins are 12-47 when scoring three runs or fewer.

Source: http://www.kbtx.com/

Loe highlights Rangers victory

MINNEAPOLIS -- One day before he pitched a Labor Day gem, Kameron Loe had talked about how he feels "at home" as a starter. Then he took the mound against an opponent with Wild Card aspirations and looked as comfortable in the Metrodome as most people look in their overstuffed living-room recliner.
Loe continued to wave bye-bye to his bullpen days with a five-hit shutout through eight innings as the Rangers grabbed a 7-0 victory over the Twins. That's three wins in three starts for Loe, who hasn't allowed an earned run to the Twins in 14 1/3 innings.
Loe felt so good that he wanted to go for a complete-game shutout, but manager Buck Showalter decided 103 pitches were enough for the 6-foot-8 right-hander.
"This [starting] is what I've wanted to do for a very long time," Loe said. "I'm just happy the manager keeps giving me the ball."
Loe can rest assured he'll keep getting the ball every five days as long as his performance level stays where it has been since he was moved into the rotation on Aug. 26. He has allowed only two earned runs in 19 innings as a starter, and has consistently stretched his outings from five to six to eight innings.
Loe had an opportunity for a shutout because Kevin Mench threw out Lew Ford at the plate in the second inning after Ford tagged at third on a foul fly to left field. The ball wasn't very deep, but Mench had to make a strong and accurate throw and Gerald Laird had to make a nice tag. The defense executed and a pumped-up Loe took it from there.
Sometimes, a young pitcher can have initial success against a team, but then the offense makes adjustments the next time they face him. But the Twins didn't have any more success against Loe in the Metrodome than they did when Loe blanked them for five innings on Aug. 26 at Ameriquest Field.
"They had seen him before and that's what makes it even more impressive," Showalter said. "They obviously had a good idea what he was going to try to do."
Whereas the Twins had seven lefty hitters against the side-wheeling Loe in Arlington, they had only five lefty hitters on Monday. Loe said he figured the lefty hitters might be diving out to get his fastball sinking away, so he made sure he came inside to combat that strategy.
"I went inside on lefties a few times and kept them honest," Loe said.
The Rangers (68-70) are beginning to see some positive signs for 2006 with the emergence of some young starters. Chris Young was the August Player of the Month, and both Juan Dominguez and Loe have come on strong in recent weeks.
"It's encouraging," Showalter said.
The Twins had a tough day all the way around with right fielder Jacque Jones losing one fly ball after banging into the wall, and another when he mistimed his jump near the wall and felt the ball pop out of his glove for an error that enabled Texas to score its second run.
It stayed 2-0 until the seventh, when the Rangers capitalized on more shaky Minnesota defense. With two on and two outs, second baseman Nick Punto botched Laird's grounder. David Dellucci made the Twins pay with a three-run double to left-center.
"When you get an opportunity like that, you really want to bear down and take advantage," Dellucci said. "I knew that if I could come through in that situation, we could blow the doors open."
The Twins went to highly touted prospect Francisco Liriano for mop-up duty in the ninth. But Liriano got a rude welcome to the Major Leagues when Gary Matthews Jr. worked a 3-1 count and then blasted a 438-foot homer to left.
The day belonged exclusively to Loe and the Rangers. For the big right-hander with big dreams for a long career as a starter, this was a holiday he won't soon forget.

Source: http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/

American League Roundup: White Sox enjoy short Boston trip

Most of the Chicago White Sox weren't too excited about giving up their Labor Day for a one-day road trip to Boston. For Brandon McCarthy, it was the opportunity of a lifetime.
"I don't have the advantage of picking and choosing things like that," the 22-year-old rookie said after pitching seven shutout innings to beat the Red Sox, 5-3, yesterday.
McCarthy got the spot start in a reluctantly scheduled makeup of an August rainout and extended his scoreless streak to 142/3 innings.
"To get to throw in Fenway is just fun throughout," he said. "Me and a couple other guys here are a couple weeks removed from nine-hour bus rides or plane flights at six in the morning. So having a one-day road trip is not a bad deal."
Chicago earned its fifth consecutive victory to remain 9 1/2 games ahead of second-place Cleveland and drop its magic number for clinching the Central to 17. Boston lost for just the third time in its past 24 home games, and its East lead was cut to three games.
The Red Sox were cautiously encouraged by the performance of former ace Curt Schilling and former closer Keith Foulke, stars of their World Series run last year who have struggled this season. Manager Terry Francona called both outings a "step in the right direction."
Schilling (5-7) gave up four runs, nine hits, three walks and a hit batter in 61/3 innings, striking out four.
Foulke pitched 12/3 hitless innings in his second scoreless outing since missing 50 games for left knee surgery.
"I felt as strong when I came out of the game as I did when I went in," said Schilling, whose 118 pitches matched a season high.
"To go out against a kid that's throwing the ball as well as Brandon threw the ball today, there's no margin of error."

Source: http://www.post-gazette.com/