Hometown Broadcasting Sports Tuesday 8/11/20
11 August 2020 Sports
Eddie Rosario hit a grand slam, Randy Dobnak pitched five strong innings and the Minnesota Twins beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2 on Monday night to snap a four-game skid. Rosario’s slam in the third inning erased an early 1-0 deficit and gave Dobnak and the Twins bullpen all the runs they needed. Keston Hiura homered and Orlando Arcia hit an RBI double for the Brewers. Dobnak (3-1) struck out three, allowed four hits, walked one and retired his last eight batters to continue his hot start to the season. The right-hander has given up just two runs over 20 innings in his first four starts. This game matched two starters who entered the night with ERAs below 1.00. Milwaukee’s Adrian Houser came in having yielded just one run over 12 innings.
The Brewers staked Houser to a 1-0 lead in the second as Orlando Arcia hit a two-out drive that eluded a leaping Rosario and went off the left-field wall for an RBI double. Arcia’s big hit snapped Dobnak’s string of 13 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings. Minnesota countered qucikly. Alex Avila hit a leadoff single in the third and Max Kepler followed with an infield hit. After Jorge Polanco grounded into a fielder’s choice, Nelson Cruz was hit by a pitch.
That loaded the bases for Rosario, who blasted a pitch over the wall in right center for his fourth career grand slam. Milwaukee star Christian Yelich singled and was left stranded at third in the bottom of the third inning, and the Brewers didn’t put another runner on base until Avisail Garcia hit a two-out single in the sixth. The Brewers cut Minnesota’s lead to 4-2 when Hiura led off the eighth by homering to left center on an 0-2 pitch from Sergio Romo. The Brewers brought the tying run to the plate when Manny Pina hit a two-out double in the ninth, but Taylor Rogers struck out Mark Mathias to earn his fourth save.
Houser (1-1) pitched five innings and gave up only those four runs on Rosario’s grand slam. Freddy Peralta struck out eight and allowed only one hit and one walk in four innings of shutout relief.
Milwaukee activated INF Luis Urias from the injured list and started him at second base. Urias also should get plenty of opportunities at shortstop. It caps a long road back for Urias, who had surgery on his left wrist in January and then tested positive for the coronavirus at the start of summer camp. … 1B/OF Logan Morrison was designated for assignment. Morrison was hitting .120 (3 of 25) with one homer and two RBI.
The Twins and Brewers continue their three-game series Tuesday in Milwaukee. Josh Lindblom (1-0, 4.15) will pitch for Milwaukee and Minnesota counters with Tyler Clippard (0-0).
There were no other games played Monday in the N.L. Central.
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Chris Boucher scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to help the Toronto Raptors defeat the Milwaukee Bucks 114-106 on Monday. Though the meeting featured the top two teams in the Eastern Conference standings, both teams were missing key players.
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, the reigning MVP, missed the game after undergoing oral surgery. Bucks coach Mike Budehnolzer said Monday it was uncertain whether Antetokounmpo would play in the team’s final two seeding games Tuesday against the Washington Wizards and Thursday against the Memphis Grizzlies.
For Toronto, Kyle Lowry sat out with a sore lower back, Serge Ibaka missed the game with a bruised right knee and Fred VanVleet was out with a hyperextended right knee.
The Bucks already had clinched the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference for a second straight season, and defending NBA champion Toronto was locked into the No. 2 spot, so there was little to gain for either team.
Kyle Korver scored 19 points and Khris Middleton added 17 for the Bucks who fell to 2-4 since the re-start.
Rookie Matt Thomas scored a season-high 22 points for the Raptors while Norman Powell added 21 as Toronto improved to 5-1 in the re-start.
The Bucks play the Washington Wizards tonight. Tipoff is at 8:00 p.m. CDT.
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Major League Baseball has had preliminary discussions about holding its postseason in a bubble-type format after the coronavirus outbreaks on the St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins that wreaked havoc on the regular-season schedule illustrated how a similar scenario could upend the playoffs, sources familiar with the conversations told ESPN.
Although a fully contained bubble similar to the NBA setup at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, would be difficult for MLB to replicate, a multicity format that replicates the NHL’s Toronto and Edmonton, Alberta, hubs has gained traction, sources said.
Because of MLB’s expansion to 16 playoff teams, the league would need at least three hubs to complete its wild-card round before shrinking to a two-hub format for the division series. The league championship series and World Series could be held at one or two stadiums. Remaining in one metropolitan area would allow teams to avoid air travel and perhaps remain at a single hotel for the entire postseason, which is scheduled to begin Sept. 27.
Southern California, the greater Chicago area and the New York metropolitan area would make the most sense because of the available stadiums, sources said. Concerns about weather in late September and deep into October make the Los Angeles area the most logical choice to host an entire postseason, though the sources cautioned that because of the nascent nature of discussions, no favorite has emerged.
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As for the fate of Big Ten football and college football in general, a lot of coaches and players want to play this fall.
Early accounts over the weekend said the Big Ten season would be cancelled. However on Monday Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh spoke out first, outlining why the plan to play football is working and can continue on a positive track. Ohio State’s Ryan Day and Penn State’s James Franklin posted Twitter messages supporting their players and the #WeWantToPlay push. The boldest words came from Nebraska’s Scott Frost, who said the school was completely aligned to play a season and would even attempt to compete outside the Big Ten, if necessary.
The question is how will the coaches’ messages impact Big Ten presidents, who meet again Tuesday morning and likely will vote on the fall season?
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Richard Petty Motorsports driver Bubba Wallace confirmed to NBC Sports that Chip Ganassi Racing has made him an offer to drive the No. 42 Chevrolet in 2021.
The report came from NBC Sports’ Marty Snider during Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway (NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). McDonald’s, a primary sponsor on the No. 43 Chevrolet of Wallace, is also a primary sponsor on the No. 42 car currently driven by Matt Kenseth.
The 26-year-old driver also confirmed he has held an ownership stake in RPM since the 2019 season, noting the 43 team has also made an offer for next season with an additional ownership stake.
Wallace is currently competing in his third season with the Richard Petty-owned organization, which has been highlighted with a second-place finish in the 2018 Daytona 500 and a third-place result in the 2019 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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Meanwhile. Kevin Harvick’s victory in Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway gave the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford team a weekend race sweep and a whole lot of momentum as the NASCAR Cup Series closes out its regular-season schedule at the end of this month.
Harvick’s win is a series-best sixth of the season and 55th of his career – placing the 44-year-old Californian in 10th on the NASCAR Cup Series all-time wins list, tied with NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace. Sunday marked the first time since 1971 (Richard Petty) that a driver has won back-to-back NASCAR Cup Series races on back-to-back days.
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The Green Bay Packers have released LB Jamal Davis. General Manager Brian Gutekunst
announced the transaction Monday.
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