Westplex Today Sports Page:   September 2, 2008

The Arizona Diamondbacks cycled past the Cardinals yesterday, further damaging the Redbirds’ playoff hopes.  

Arizona shortstop Stephen Drew was 5-for-5 and hit for the cycle as the Diamondbacks beat the Cardinals 8-6 yesterday to open a three-game series.  Drew was matched by Seattle ’s Adrian Beltre in hitting for the cycle yesterday, and they became the first duo in 88 years to hit for the cycle on the same day.

The Cardinals lost despite hitting four home runs off of future Hall-of-Famer Randy Johnson.   Yadier Molina, Joe Mather, Felipe Lopez and Albert Pujols hit the home runs to give the Cardinals a 5-1 lead.   Pujols extended his major league record of hitting at least 30 home runs in each of his first eight seasons, but all of that power wasn’t enough to give the Cardinals a much-needed victory.  

The Cardinals couldn’t hold an early 5-1 lead, as Joel Piniero allowed four runs in five innings as the Cardinals’ starter.   Then, the bullpen again played Santa Claus to their opponents.  Kyle McClellan was tagged with the loss after he gave up a game-tying homer to Mark Reynolds in the 6^th inning and the go-ahead single to former Cardinal David Eckstein in the 7^th inning.   McClellan falls to 2-7 on the year.  Russ Springer then uncorked a wild pitch that brought home the final Arizona run.  

The Cardinals are quickly slipping out of playoff contention.   They dropped their fourth in a row to fall to 74-64 overall, 11 games behind the first-place Cubs in the NL Central Division and 6 ½ games in back of the Milwaukee Brewers in the wild card race.  Milwaukee leads the NL wild card standings by 5 ½ games over Philadelphia , and the Redbirds are a game behind the Phillies in 3^rd place.    

To add injury to the insult of the 8-6 loss yesterday, Cardinals outfielder Joe Mather will see a hand specialist today to determine the extent of the injury to his left wrist.  The Redbird rookie was hurt trying to check his swing in the third inning in yesterday's loss at Arizona .  The Cards have termed the injury a sprain.  Mather said later that the wrist was sore and that he couldn't squeeze the bat.  The injury could end Mather's season, as only four weeks remain on the regular season schedule.

Meanwhile, Chris Carpenter will work out of the beleaguered Cardinals’ bullpen for the rest of the season.  The former Cy Young winner was activated off the 15-day disabled list yesterday.  He will be available in relief as soon as tonight when the Cards take on the Diamondbacks in the second game of their three-game series.  Carpenter is returning from a slightly torn shoulder muscle that forced him out of his last start August 10th.  He hasn't pitched in relief since 2000, when he was with the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Cardinals face the Diamondbacks again tonight at 8:40 .   KWRE will have the action for you beginning at 7:57 with the pre-game shows.

The Houston Astros are doing their part to stall the Cubs’ run to the NL Centrall pennant.   The Astros scored twice in the fourth inning and ran their winning streak to six games in beating the Cubs 3-0 yesterday at Wrigley Field.  Roy Oswalt earned the victory to boost his record to 13-9.  Former Cardinal Jason Marquis took the loss to drop to 9-8.  The Cubs managed just four hits in losing their third in a row, but they still have a 4 ½ game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers in the Central Division.   The Brewers were beaten at home by the Mets 4-2 yesterday.

In college football:   Missouri Tiger fans are breathing a big sigh of relief, as sophomore standout Jeremy Maclin will actually be available to play this Saturday against Southeast Missouri State.   Maclin electrified Tiger fans with a 99-yard kickoff return and 201 all-purpose yards in the 52-42 victory over Illinois Saturday, but he left the game with an ankle injury.   Fortunately, Maclin’s injury is only a strained tendon in his ankle, and he has been listed as “probable” for Mizzou’s home opener this Saturday in Columbia .  

Defensive back William Moore should also be able to play Saturday for Mizzou, after he suffered a foot injury in the victory over Illinois .  

As they prepare to open their season this Sunday, the Rams voted for five players to serve as team captains yesterday.   On offense, Marc Bulger and receiver Torry Holt are captains while Will Witherspoon and Corey Chavous will lead the defense.  Safety Todd Johnson has been elected the captain of the special teams. 

The Rams also made some adjustments to their roster, after they signed cornerback Rickie Manning and linebacker Gary Stills.  Manning arrived in St. Louis from Chicago after being cut by the Bears.  Stills was released by Baltimore where he excelled on special teams.  To make room on the roster for Manning, the Rams released defensive back Eric Bassey.  An additional player will be released in order to make room for Stills.

Highlighting Westplex high school football from the first weekend of the season:   Judging from their first-week performances, the trio of Wentzville Timberland, Wentzville Holt, and Washington will create a dandy Class 5 District 5 tournament later this season.  Timberland overwhelmed Duchesne 41-14, Wentzville Holt dominated Howell North 32-0, and Washington pounded Zumwalt North 54-14.

Two first-year varsity programs fared very well in their season debuts last Friday.   Clopton-Elsberry registered a convincing 40-18 victory over Van-Far, and Zumwalt East had a 13-0 lead before it succumbed to St. Charles 35-27.

Warrenton won a thrilling season debut over Affton 19-15, when Jake Miller threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Wallace with 25 seconds left in regulation.   Warrenton will be a part of the weekend doubleheader of high school football featured by Kaspar Broadcasting.   KFAV and KWRE will each broadcast a game from the two-day GAC Gridiron Classic this weekend at Lindenwood University .   KFAV will air the Battle of Highway 61 Friday afternoon, between Wentzville Holt and Troy .   That battle at Lindenwood’s neutral site of Harlan C. Hunter Stadium begins at 5:00 Friday.   Then, Warrenton faces Washington at 4:00 Saturday on KWRE, as a lead-in to Cardinals baseball Saturday night.

In pre-season college basketball:   The Missouri Tigers used a 16-0 run late in the first half and went on to beat the Southern Ontario All-Stars 109-92 in exhibition basketball action yesterday.  Mike Anderson's team wrapped up their Canadian tour with a 3-0 record.  Leo Lyons led the Tigers with 20 points.  Zaire Taylor added 15 points and eight steals.  The Tigers open practice for the 2008-09 season on October 17th.

In tennis:   The top men’s player in the world struggled to reach the U.S. Open quarterfinals.   Rafael Nadal won the first set of his match with Sam Querrey in a half-hour, but Nadal needed 2 ½ additional hours to defeat Querrey in four sets.   The Williams sisters had easier straight-set victories to get to the women’s quarterfinals, but Venus and Serena will have to play each other for the first time since Venus beat her sister to win the women’s Wimbledon championship in July.

In golf:   Vijay Singh fired an eight-under-par 63 on Monday, to cruise to a five-stroke win at the Deutsche Bank Championship.  Vijay finished the tournament at 22-under-par, and he has won both FedEx Cup playoff events in back-to-back weeks, giving him a commanding lead on the race for the $10 million payout. 

And, very few athletes have had such a dramatic rollercoaster performance in an athletic event, that Kevin Craft had last night.   Craft is the new starting quarterback for UCLA, and he had a terrible start in his debut.   He threw four interceptions in the first half, as UCLA trailed Tennessee 14-7 at halftime.   However, Craft’s performance zoomed upward in the 2^nd half, as he threw for 193 of his 259 yards and led UCLA to two touchdowns.   As a result, the Bruins eventually defeated 18^th-ranked Tennessee 27-24 in overtime at the Rose Bowl.