MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Craig Monroe’s two long balls helped pace the Minnesota Twins to a 9-8 win in the third chapter of a four-game set with Boston. The Twins took a 7-1 lead through three innings and managed to hold off the Red Sox late for the win.

Minnesota took the lead for good with a five-run second inning. Justin Morneau led off with a single to left and Michael Cuddyer followed with a double to left to set the stage for Monroe’s three-run shot to left off Boston starter Tim Wakefield. Mike Lamb reached on a walk before Adam Everett hit a homer to left just past Red Sox left fielder Jacoby Ellsbury’s outstretched glove for a 5-0 advantage.

In the third, Boston got one run back when Ellsbury reached on a hit-by-pitch from Twins starter Nick Blackburn and scored on a Mike Lowell sacrifice fly to left.

In the bottom of the frame, the Twins continued to pile on. Morneau singled to center, then moved up on a passed ball on Boston catcher Kevin Cash and a Wakefield wild pitch. Delmon Young walked and took second on another passed ball on Cash. Lamb then singled to center, scoring Morneau and Young and chasing Wakefield from his shortest outing as a starter in nearly five years. After three innings, Minnesota led, 7-1.

The Red Sox re-entered striking distance with a three-run third. Coco Crisp led off with a triple to right and scored on a Cash single to center. Cash then scored on a Dustin Pedroia fielder’s choice before Pedroia scored on Kevin Youkilis’ single off Lamb’s glove, cutting the deficit to 7-4.

In the bottom of the inning, Minnesota got a run back after Joe Mauer walked and scored on an error on Lowell. However, Boston continued to draw closer in the seventh, when J.D. Drew singled to right before Crisp’s homer to right, making the score 8-6.

Monroe hit his second homer in the bottom of the seventh off reliever Mike Timlin for a 9-6 lead, setting the stage for a crazy ninth inning.

With closer Joe Nathan on for the Twins, Youkilis hit a one-out infield single to short. After Lowell singled to center, Drew doubled over Minnesota outfielder Carlos Gomez’s head, after Gomez started in after the ball. Youkilis scored on the play. Lowell scored on a fielder’s choice off Crisp’s bat to cut the score to 9-8 with two outs before Manny Ramirez, who had been sitting with a sore right hamstring, grounded out to end the game with the tying run on second.

Morneau went 3-for-3 for the Twins, with Monroe going 2-for-4. Blackburn (3-2) got the win, going six innings of nine-hit ball with four runs, a walk and five strikeouts. Matt Guerrier worked an inning before Dennys Reyes’s scoreless eighth. Nathan picked up his 12^th save.

For the Red Sox, Alex Cora’s 3-for-4 night led the way, while David Ortiz, Youkilis, Drew, Crisp and Cash all registered two hits. On the mound, Wakefield (3-2) took the loss, throwing 2 2/3 innings of seven-hit, seven-run baseball, with two walks and two punchouts. Julian Tavarez, David Aardsma, Timlin and Javier Lopez all also saw time on the hill.

With his scoreless inning, Reyes has now worked 11 1/3 scoreless innings this season.

19-17 Minnesota has a one-game lead in the AL Central over the White Sox and Cleveland, while Boston at 24-16 has a 1.5 game lead over surprising Tampa Bay in the East.

The finale of the set Monday night will pit Clay Buchholz for the Red Sox and Livan Hernandez for Minnesota.

Video credit- ESPN

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The St. Louis Cardinals used timely hitting and a shut-down performance from starter Todd Wellemeyer and four relievers to beat Chicago, 5-3, and retain the NL Central division lead.

In the fourth inning, with the score tied at two, St. Louis took the lead for good against Cubs starter Jason Marquis. Cesar Izturis singled with one out to left field. Adam Kennedy walked to set the table for Albert Pujols, who doubled down the left-field line, scoring Izturis and Kennedy to take a 4-2 lead. 

Chicago drew first blood in the top of the second frame. Geovany Soto led off with a double to right and scored on Reed Johnson’s double on the ground to left. Alfonso Soriano’s sac fly to center then scored Mike Fontenot, who had walked, giving the Cubs a 2-0 advantage.

The Cardinals knotted things up in the bottom of the inning. Wellemeyer, Izturis, Skip Schumaker and Kennedy hit four straight singles, with Wellemeyer scoring on Schumaker’s hit and Izturis coming around on Kennedy’s knock, to tie the score.

St. Louis tacked on one more in the sixth. Ryan Ludwick led off with a single to left and scored on Kennedy’s two-out bloop single to center for a 5-2 lead.

In the seventh, the Cubs got that one back. Pinch hitter Ronny Cedeno was hit by a pitch and scored on Kosuke Fukudome’s sac fly to center to keep the margin at two, 5-3.

For St. Louis, Kennedy led the way with a 2-for-2 night, while Izturis also got two hits. Pujols registered a hit and a walk; he has reached base safely in all 32 games this season.

On the hill, Wellemeyer (3-1) went five innings of three-hit, two-run ball, walking four and striking out four. Relievers Kyle McClellan, Randy Flores and Ryan Franklin combined to allow one run over three innings, and Jason Isringhausen pitched a perfect ninth for his 10^th save.

No Cub registered more than one hit on the night, though Ryan Theriot and Fontenot each reached three times. On the mound, Marquis (1-2) pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing seven hits and five runs, with five free passes and four strikeouts. Sean Marshall and Sean Gallagher kept the Cardinals off the scoreboard the rest of the way.

For Chicago, Aramis Ramirez sat out again after taking a pitch off the wrist in Friday’s game.

The 20-12 Cardinals, who hold a 1.5-game lead in the division, travel Monday to Colorado, with Joel Pineiro slated to pitch. The Cubs, now 18-13 and in second place in the Central, will pitch Ryan Dempster Monday at Cincinnati.

Video credit- ESPN

2008 NBA PLAYOFFS SPECIAL COVERAGE- WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND GAME
Game played April 25, 2008

DALLAS, Texas- Down 2-0 in their best-of-seven first-round Western Conference playoffs series with New Orleans, the Dallas Mavericks won Game 3 97-87. Dirk Nowitzki scored 32 points to lead all players in that category, and Jason Terry added 22 more for Dallas.

Dallas took a big lead right out of the gate, with a 15-4 run to open play. Nowitzki scored five points, Terry added four and Jason Kidd, Erick Dampier and Josh Howard added two points apiece during the run. At the end of the first quarter, the Mavericks held a 23-16 lead.

In the second quarter, the Hornets showed flashes of the resiliency that made them a two-seed in the playoffs. Trailing 25-16, New Orleans went on a 16-4 run to take its first lead. During the spurt, Peja Stojakovic and Jannero Pargo tallied five points each, with Bonzi Wells scoring four and Julian Wright adding two. The Hornets led 32-29.

The Mavericks went on a 13-4 run, however, to end first-half play and retake the lead for good. Devean George netted five points, Nowitzki scored four and Kidd and Brandon Bass added two points each. At the half, Dallas led, 47-40.

Dallas made another 9-2 run early in the third period. Howard scored six points and Nowitzki added three more to extend the Mavericks’ lead to 58-45.

The Mavs led 74-63 at the end of the third quarter, and the lead swelled to as much as 16 after a Nowitzki 3 early in the fourth. New Orleans did make one last late 7-0 run to cut the gap to 90-83, but could get no closer, falling by 10.

For Dallas, Howard checked in with 18 points. Nowitzki registered 19 rebounds, and Kidd had 11 more.

The Hornets were led offensively by Pargo’s 30 points off the bench. Chris Paul added 16, with 10 assists. David West scored 14 points, and Stojakovic chipped in 13, with 10 boards. Tyson Chandler checked in with 11 rebounds.

New Orleans’ futility in Dallas continued with the loss. The Hornets are 0-12 all-time at the American Airlines Arena and have not won in Dallas since the then-Charlotte Hornets turned the trick Jan. 24, 1998.

With the win, the seventh-seeded Mavericks’ home record this season improved to 35-7.

The series, which the Hornets still lead two games to one, will resume here Sunday night.

Video credit- ESPN