Westplex Today Sports Page:   August 29, 2008

The Cardinals begin a three-game weekend set in Houston tonight following an open date yesterday.  First pitch is 7:05, and KWRE will begin its broadcast at 6:22 .  

Redbirds right-hander Kyle Lohse faces southpaw Randy Wolff on the mound.  Lohse is 13-6, but he is 0-3 in his last 4 starts with an ERA of 5.40.   Lohse has won his first three meetings against the Astros this season.   Wolff is 8-11 this season, and he is 3-4 with a 3.96 ERA against the Cardinals.  The Astros are also 21-11 in their last 32 games. The Cards and Mets are both tied for second place in the NL wild card standings.  Each club sits 3 ½ games back of Milwaukee for the last playoff spot.

A couple of Cardinals pitchers made progress in their injury-recovery efforts.  According to the "St. Louis Post-Dispatch", Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter threw sixty pitches and reportedly felt good while throwing with increased effort during a bullpen session yesterday.  A timetable for his return remains unclear.  Carpenter has been out since August 10th with a shoulder strain.   At the Cardinals Double-A affiliate, reliever Josh Kinney struck out two during an inning of work in his second rehab appearance as Springfield downed Tulsa 5-3.  Kinney has struck out three without allowing a hit, a run, or a walk over two innings pitched.

While the Cardinals rested yesterday, the Cubs inched further ahead of them.   Aramis Ramirez hit his eighth career grand slam, and it highlighted a five-run eighth inning as the Cubs rallied past the Philadelphia Phillies 6-4 at Wrigley Field last night.  Mike Fontenot led off the big inning with a pinch-hit home run for the Cubs, who have won six straight games.  Bob Howry picked up the win in relief of starter Ryan Dempster, who allowed all four earned runs on eight hits over six frames.  Kerry Wood closed it out for his 28th save.  The Cubs, who now lead the Brewers by 6 ½ games and the Cardinals by 10 in the National League Central, host the Phillies again this afternoon.

The Rams' preseason slate is over after falling 21-17 in Kansas City last night in their exhibition finale.  The Chiefs enjoyed a 21-3 lead before the Rams made it interesting with two late scores in a game that was delayed for over an hour by thunderstorms.   Quarterback Brock Berlin may have solidified his spot as the Rams’ #3 quarterback, after he completed 13 out of 21 passes for 107 yards and a touchdown in the setback.  Running back Lance Ball ran for 70 yards and a score.  The Rams open the regular season in Philadelphia on September 7th.

The 2008 high school football season begins across the state in Missouri tonight.   KFAV will begin our play-by-play broadcast schedule tonight with a GAC North encounter between Wentzville Timberland and Duchesne.   Timberland is ranked 8^th in Class 5, after a 10-2 season, a 3-way tie for the conference crown, and a trip to the Class 4 state quarterfinals.   Duchesne was 3-7 last season, but it brings a lot of defensive personnel back into the fold.   Tonight’s game at Duchesne High School in St. Charles begins at 7:00 .   Our “Countdown To Kickoff Show” gets underway at 6:45 .

In other games involving Westplex teams tonight:

Union at Summit

Marquette at Francis Howell

Zumwalt North at Washington

Wentzville Holt at Howell North

Sullivan at Hermann

Affton at Warrenton

Montgomery County at Orchard Farm

Pacific at Perryville

Howell Central at Zumwalt West

Ladue at St. Charles West

Wright City at Mexico

Zumwalt East at St. Charles

Hannibal at Troy .

Zumwalt South at Lindbergh

Lutheran St. Charles at Trinity

Cardinal Ritter at St. Dominic

Borgia at St. Clair

Owensville at Potosi

Bowling Green at Mark Twain

Van-Far at Clopton-Elsberry

Two of the top high school football teams in Missouri will play each other Sunday morning in front of a nationally-televised audience.   Kansas City Rockhurst will host Blue Springs South at 11 a.m. Sunday, in a battle between the two past Class 6 state champions.   Rockhurst opens the season as the defending Class 6 champion and the pre-season #1 team.   Blue Springs South is ranked 4^th in the state’s sportswriters and sportscasters poll.   Both teams also feature two of the top college quarterback prospects:   Blaine Dalton of Blue Springs South is the 9^th-ranked QB in the country, and he has committed to play his college football at Missouri .   Rockhurst’s Nathan Scheelhaase is the 29^th-ranked QB in the country, and he has pledged to play his college football at Illinois .

Speaking of Missouri and Illinois , they start their college football campaigns tomorrow night in the Arch Rivalry game in St. Louis .  Kickoff is 7:30 at Edward Jones Dome, and KFAV will broadcast the game beginning with pre-game activities at 6:30 .  The Tigers are ranked 6^th in the pre-season AP poll, while the Fighting Illini own the 20th position.  Missouri beat Illinois 40-34 in the match-up last year, and both teams used the game as a springboard toward historic seasons.   Missouri wound up winning the Big 12 North crown, routed Arkansas 38-7 for its largest bowl-game winning margin in school history, and it finished with a school-best #4 ranking.   Illinois wound up with a 9-3 record and a loss to USC in the Rose Bowl.

The 2008 college football season kicked off in earnest yesterday as 23rd-ranked Wake Forest posted a 41-13 victory at Baylor.    There were two conference games in the SEC and Pac-10 last night:   South Carolina drubbed North Carolina State 35-0, and Stanford held off Oregon State 36-28.  

Saturday marks the first full day of action as top-ranked Georgia begins its title quest at home against Georgia Southern.  The Bulldogs look to prove the critics wrong after getting snubbed for a BCS title spot last year.  Georgia opens the season as the top-ranked team for the first time in school history and is seeking its first national championship since 1980.

Second-ranked Ohio State welcomes Youngstown State to the Horseshoe.  The Buckeyes are looking to bounce back after losing the BCS title game for the second straight year.  Ohio State was beaten 38-24 by LSU to finish the season at 11-2.  The Buckeyes are once again led by senior quarterback Todd Boeckman and Heisman Trophy candidate Chris "Beanie" Wells, who rushed for more than 1,600 yards and 15 touchdowns a season ago.  Ohio State will then play Ohio University before a marquee matchup at USC on September 15th.

The third-ranked Trojans travel to Virginia on Saturday to open their season, while fourth-ranked Oklahoma is at home to play Chattanooga .  Fifth-ranked Florida opens up at The Swamp against Hawaii , and 24th-ranked Alabama plays at #9 Clemson.

The Missouri men's basketball schedule is now public knowledge.  Mike Anderson's squad opens the regular season at home against Prairie View A&M on November 15th.  Mizzou will take on 12 teams who were invited to the 2008 NCAA Tournament.  Reigning champion Kansas visits Columbia on February 9th.

The women's top seed went was ousted in the second round Thursday in stunning fashion at the U.S. Open.  World number-one Ana Ivanovic was stunned in three sets by Julie Coin 6-4, 4-6, and 6-3 in their second-round match.  Coin was ranked 188^th in the world, but she was able to send Ivanovic to a historic defeat.   Until yesterday, a top-ranked player in the world hadn’t lost in the second round of the U.S. Open since 1968.  

In auto racing:   Red-hot Carl Edwards will seek another win when the Sprint Cup Series returns to Auto Club Speedway Sunday night.  Edwards has won the last two races and three of the last four Cup events.  He also won the first race of the year at the Fontana , California track in February.  Edwards has six wins on the season, second only to the eight victories amassed by points leader Kyle Busch.  Edwards and Busch have each been placed on probation for the next six races for their actions last weekend at Bristol .  Jimmie Johnson is the defending race champion.  Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Burton can all clinch spots in the Chase for the Cup, regardless of how other drivers perform Sunday.  Qualifying is this afternoon.

Tropical Storm “Gustav” is expected to intensify to a Category-3 hurricane by the time it approaches the Gulf Coast early next week.   If the New Orleans Saints need to evacuate again because of a hurricane, they won't be going to San Antonio .  Saints general manager Mickey Loomis released a statement today that said that San Antonio was a terrific host in 2005, but their plans call for them to consider an alternate location at this time, most likely Indianapolis for a week or so until the storm weakens or leaves the New Orleans metropolitan area.  The Saints were in San Antonio for the entire 2005 season because of Hurricane Katrina.