Westplex Today Sports Page:   June 20, 2008

The Cardinals could only muster two hits and one run in losing their third in a row to the Kansas City Royals, 4-1 yesterday at Busch Stadium.  Rick Ankiel knocked his 11th home run of the year to account for the lone Redbird score.  Brad Thompson made the start for the Birds and pitched reasonably well, giving up two runs in five innings of work, just after he was pulled off the disabled list.  He was tagged with the loss to drop to 1-2 and was sent back to Triple-A Memphis following the game.  On the bright side, Jason Isringhausen pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief.  The Cards did not lose ground to the Cubs because Chicago also lost last night.  The Birds are 3 ˝ games behind the Cubs in the NL Central.  They open a nine-game road trip tonight in Boston with the first of three games against the leaders of the AL East—the Red Sox.

Another rehab start for Cardinals pitcher Mark Mulder in Memphis did not go well Thursday, as the Albuquerque Isotopes pounded the Redbirds, 11-6, at AutoZone Park .  Mulder left the game in the fourth inning, after giving up six earned runs on ten hits.  Outfielder Nick Stavinoha led the Redbirds offense, going 2-for-4 with three RBI.  The two teams wrap their four game series with a 7:05 game tonight.  The Redbirds will then hit the road for four games in Nashville , starting Saturday night.

Tampa Bay scored seven runs in the seventh inning to beat the Cubs 8-3 at Tropicana Field last night.  The win completed the sweep for the Rays, who boosted their record to 43-29 while Chicago dropped to 45-28.  The Cubs fell to 16-20 on the road, but despite the loss, they still own the best record in baseball.  Lou Piniella's team returns home to host its cross-town rival Chicago White Sox.  Both teams sit in first place in their respective divisions.

Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano will have further testing on his right shoulder today, but the team has already planned for the veteran right-hander to skip his next start.  Zambrano had to come out of Wednesday's game against Tampa Bay because of discomfort in his right shoulder and flew back to Chicago on Thursday to be examined.  Among the candidates to make the start Tuesday against the Baltimore Orioles is left-hander Sean Marshall, who started yesterday for Triple-A Iowa.

While the Cardinals and Cubs are spinning their wheels, the Brewers have climbed back into the race for the NL Central crown.   The Brewers swept the Blue Jays, winning Thursday's series finale 8-7 at Miller Park .  Dave Bush took a no-hitter into the eighth inning as the Brewers held off a furious ninth inning rally.   Bush gave up a leadoff triple to Lyle Overbay in the eighth inning to lose his bid for a no hitter, but allowed only a run on two hits and a walk over eight strong  innings  to improve to 3-7 with the win.  Prince Fielder ripped an inside-the-park home run, and Russell Branyan belted a three-run shot in the victory.  The Brewers are now just 5 ˝ games behind the first-place Cubs, and just two games behind the second-place Cardinals. Tonight, the Brewers begin a weekend series against Baltimore at Miller Park .

Back to the minor leagues:   A.J. Van Slyke launched a walk-off home run last night to give the River City Rascals a 7-6 win over the Southern Illinois Miners in Frontier League action.  The Rascals improved to 11-2 in one-run games and boosted their overall record to 17-11.   And, they remain 2 games ahead of Evansville atop the West Division of the Frontier League.   The Rascals host the Miners again tonight, at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O’Fallon.   The first pitch will be tossed at 7:05 .

In hockey:   The Blues made a trade last night as the NHL prepares to hold the first round of its annual draft tonight.  Team president John Davidson announced late last night that the club has acquired a third round pick in this year's draft from Toronto in exchange for popular forward Jamal Mayers.  The pick is #70 overall.  The 33-year-old Mayers will be returning to play for his hometown Maple Leafs.  He was drafted by the Blues in 1993 and last season scored 12 goals with 15 assists.  As of this morning, the Blues own ten picks, including the fourth overall selection.

In pro basketball:   The NBA champion Celtics celebrated their first title since 1986 with a parade through the streets of Boston yesterday.  The rally started at TD Banknorth Garden, where the Celtics cruised past the Lakers 131-92 on Tuesday to win their 17th NBA championship in franchise history.  Thousands of fans lined the streets as players and coaches were paraded around in Boston tour vehicles.  The Celtics completed the greatest turnaround in NBA history this past season, going from 24 wins in 2006-07 to a league-best 66 victories this year.  They capped it with one of the most dominating performances in NBA Finals history, second to only Chicago 's 42-point rout of Utah in the 1998 Finals.  It also marked the sixth such parade for Boston sports fans since 2002, as the Patriots have won three Super Bowl championships and the Red Sox a pair of World Series titles.

In auto racing:   The Sprint Cup Series heads to the road course at Infineon Raceway for Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350.  Qualifying is slated for this afternoon.  Juan Pablo Montoya picked up his first NASCAR win in last year's race.  Jeff Gordon, who is still searching for his first win of 2008, has five wins at the California track.  Gordon finished seventh in last year's race, despite starting 41st.  Kyle Busch continues to lead the Sprint Cup standings by 32 points over Jeff Burton.  Dale Earnhardt Jr., who snapped a two-year winless drought last week at Michigan , is 84 points off the pace.  Matt Kenseth has registered five consecutive top-10 finishes and has vaulted from 34th to 14th in the standings. 

In horse racing:   Big Brown is slated to make his next start at Monmouth Park at the Haskell Invitational Stakes on August 3rd.  The three-year old horse, which won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, was given a clean bill of health after an examination following the June 7th Belmont Stakes.  Big Brown finished in last place, thus failing to capture the Triple Crown.

The St. Louis Archdiocese says it cannot and will not encourage participation in this weekend's Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure due to what they say is the foundation's support for Planned Parenthood and embryonic stem cell research.  Komen race officials deny those claims and say the race is about raising money for breast cancer treatment and research.  More than 60,000 are expected to take part in this weekend's race in downtown St. Louis .  Organizers hope to raise $3 million.