Westplex Today Sports Page:   June 19, 2008

For the second straight night the Cardinals bullpen gave up a lead and the Redbirds lost a one-run game.  The Kansas City Royals smacked a pair of solo home runs in the eighth inning to beat the Birds 3-2.  It was the Royals fourth win in a row.  Kyle McClellan gave up both home runs and took the loss.  Braden Looper made the start for the Cards and threw seven innings, allowing one run on five hits.  Ryan Ludwick and Jason LaRue each drove in a run.  The Cards' loss was coupled with a Cub loss, so the Birds did not lose any ground to Chicago, which leads St. Louis by 3 1/2 games in the NL Central Division.

Cardinals right-hander Anthony Reyes was expected to make the start against the Royals today in place of Todd Wellemeyer, but the 26-year-old was scratched from the lineup and placed on the disabled list instead.  Reyes is suffering from a right elbow strain.  The Redbirds will take Brad Thompson off the disabled list to make the start today, while the Royals counter with Zack Greinke.  Greinke is 5-4 with a 3.48 ERA.  His last three decisions have all been losses and he hasn't won a game since May 18.  Thompson has posted a 1-1 record for St. Louis and has also spent time in Triple-A Memphis this season.  First pitch is 1:15 , and KWRE will air the game beginning at 12:32 .  

Speaking of the Cubs, rookie catcher Geovany Soto ripped his 12th home run of the season and added an RBI double, but it wasn't enough for the Cubs, as Chicago dropped a 5-4 decision to the Tampa Bay Rays last night.  A four-run third inning made the difference for the Rays, who remain two games behind the Boston Red Sox for first place in the AL East.  In addition to the loss, Chicago pitching ace Carlos Zambrano left the game in the seventh inning with discomfort in his right shoulder.  He is scheduled for an MRI today.  Despite losing their second straight game the Cubs boast baseball's best record at 45-27.

St. Charles native Mark Buehrle pitched eight innings, allowing two runs on four hits and striking out three, as the Chicago White Sox beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-2 last night.  The Sox have won two in a row and sit 4 ˝ games in front of the Minnesota Twins for the American League Central Division lead.  Buehrle boosted his record to 4-6.

Highlighting other major-league baseball action:   Former Cardinal J.D. Drew went 4-for-5 with a home run and four RBI to lead the Red Sox to a 7-4 win over the Phillies, in a battle of division leaders in Philadelphia .  Drew hit a three-run homer in the first inning and finished just a triple shy of the cycle as Boston took two-of-three.

In minor league baseball:   The River City Rascals battled back from a 4-0 deficit last night to beat the Evansville Otters 9-5 at T.R. Hughes Ballpark.  The Rascals finished off a sweep of Evansville by blasting three home runs to power their win.   Newcomer Ryan Wehrle has hit two homers in his first three games with the Rascals, and he has helped them move two games ahead of Evansville for the top spot in the Frontier League Western Division.  River City has posted a 16-11 record this season, and it will host Southern Illinois to begin a 3-game series in O’Fallon tonight.   Country star Andy Griggs will perform a concert before the game, and he will sign a Rascals guitar that will be auctioned off during the game.   Our own “Mikey T”, Mike Thomas, will have a live broadcast before Griggs performs this afternoon.

Golf fans in St. Louis must feel like they are snakebit with bad luck, regarding Tiger Woods.   Tiger announced that he will not play any more competitive golf this season, because he will have season-ending knee surgery.   That development means that he will not play in the BMW Championship at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis September 4^th through the 7^th.  

Back in September of 2001, Tiger was scheduled to play in a tournament in St. Louis , but it was canceled in the wake of 9-11.   This year’s BMW tournament will still be a great event, but officials will have to find another compelling golfer or item to help market the event.  

Despite the bad news regarding Tiger, the PGA will be just fine in his absence, according to "Golf Magazine" publisher Charlie Kammerer.  Kammerer said there were big-names in the sport before Woods, such as Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Ben Hogan.  He added that Tiger was a big ratings draw, but pointed out Woods has made a habit of not playing every event.  Despite the injury and a double stress fracture to his left tibia, Woods won his third U.S. Open title this weekend, besting Rocco Mediate in 19 extra holes Monday.

In pro basketball:  Boston is getting ready for another victory parade.  The Celtics victory parade will take off through the streets of downtown Boston at 10 a.m. Officials say they will be increasing subway and bus services to accommodate the large crowds expected to turn up. 

Attorneys for the city of Seattle have disputed a claim by Sonics' owner Clay Bennett saying the team would lose 60 million dollars if they finished out the remaining two years on their lease at KeyArena.  Attorneys cited a Goldman Sachs analysis predicting the Sonics would only lose a combined 5.6 million dollars if the team remains in the city two more years.  The Sonics are threatening to move to Oklahoma City , after decades of play in Seattle .

Jason Kidd will reportedly be named to the U.S. men's Olympic Basketball Team.  The "Dallas Morning News" says the Mavericks point guard received a call earlier this week to confirm he was on the 12-man roster.  Kidd split last season between the Nets and Mavs, and combined to average 10.8 points and 10.1 assists over 80 games in the NBA.  Teams that have included Kidd on them are 38-0 in international competition.

In college baseball:  Sean Ratliff clubbed a two-run homer and Cord Phelps hit a two-run triple as the Stanford Cardinal went on to upset the top-ranked and top-seeded Miami Hurricanes, 8-3, in an elimination game at the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.  Stanford now faces the Georgia Bulldogs in a Bracket One finals match-up tomorrow at 1:00 .  Stanford must beat Georgia twice to advance to the championship round.   If a second game is necessary, it will be played Saturday at 6 p.m.

UNC will try to stay alive at the College World Series tonight.  The Tar Heels will play LSU in an elimination game at 7:00 .  The Heels suffered their first loss of the postseason Tuesday night when they were defeated 5-3 by Fresno State .  LSU staved off elimination with a 6-5 win over Rice Tuesday.  The Tigers rallied to scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth to send the Owls home.  UNC and LSU are meeting for the second time in the CWS.  The Tar Heels turned back the Tigers 8-4 in their first game in Omaha on Sunday.

In pro football:  Oakland Raiders wideout Javon Walker continues to recover from injuries he received during a Monday morning robbery in Las Vegas but is expected to be ready for the start of training camp this Wednesday.  Walker was found unconscious and badly beaten early Monday morning outside of Summer's Bay Resort, about two blocks east of the Vegas Strip.  Las Vegas television station KTNV reported Walker was released from Sunrise Medical Center late Tuesday night and was recovering at an undisclosed location. 

Former Detroit Lions Head coach Bobby Ross says Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders avoided being the the leader of the team while he coached there.  Speaking at a recent awards dinner, Ross says he didn't know if Sanders "really loved the game," but he "worked hard at."  He says he always wanted Sanders to step and be a leader, but the elusive running back shunned the role.  Ross also said that Sanders was the only player he ever coached that whenever he touched the ball, he thought he would run for a touchdown.  Ross coached the team from 1997, until the middle of the 2000 season when he abruptly resigned because of health issues.