GrobberNET

   MINNEAPOLIS—Just when the Minnesota Twins really looked to be grabbing hold of the AL Central division, Paul Konerko, Mark Buehrle and the White Sox delivered an emphatic message: This race is far from over.Well mabey.Konerko had five hits and four RBI and Buehrle pitched seven shutout innings to help the White Sox slow surging Minnesota with an 11-0 romp on Thursday night.Buehrle (12-9) allowed five hits and struck out four. Konerko hit his 31st home run and had a double and three singles... (more...)

　   DERRICK LEE IS LATEST CUB TO LEAVE IN CURRENT HOUSE CLEANING.   The Cubs sent a parade of rookies to the mound during another loss at Wrigley Field, then said goodbye to a popular former All-Star.There were no such problems for the San Diego Padres, who just keep following the same formula to more victories.Matt Stairs, taking advantage of a rare outfield start, hit a two-run double and Adrian Gonzalez homered, powering San Diego to a 5-1 victory over the Northsiders on Wednesday.The reeling... (more...)

    What a finish. Jim Thome hurts his former team with a walk-off shot in the 10th to give the Twins a 7-6 win over the White Sox.    MINNEAPOLIS—Jim Thome hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning against the team that decided not to bring him back this season, sending the Minnesota Twins to a 7-6 victory over the White Sox on Tuesday night to stretch their AL Central lead to four games.After Delmon Young’s leadoff single against Matt Thornton (3-4), Thome smashed... (more...)

　 Jon Garland pitched seven innings and Jerry Hairston Jr. drove in the game’s only run in the first inning and the San Diego Padres beat the Cubs 1-0.The NL-West leading Padres won for the eighth time in nine games and moved five games ahead of the second-place San Francisco Giants.Heath Bell pitched a scoreless ninth for his major league-leading 36th save in 39 opportunities, but not before nearly allowing a game-ending two-run home run in the ninth to Blake DeWitt.After allowing a leadoff... (more...)

ATLANTA—If the Atlanta Dream fail to get home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, they can just look towards their play against the already eliminated Sky.Sylvia Fowles had 18 points and 14 rebounds, Epiphanny Prince scored eight of her 14 points in the fourth quarter and the Sky rallied to defeat the Dream 84-79 on Tuesday night at Phillips Arena.Atlanta (18-14) has lost five of its last six games to fall to the fourth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The... (more...)

　 Kevin Correia pitched six scoreless innings and hit a rare RBI double, leading the San Diego Padres to a 9-5 victory over the Cubs on Monday night.Miguel Tejada was 4 for 5 with a double and two RBI and Chris Denorfia added three hits for the NL West-leading Padres, who have won seven of eight and moved four games ahead of second-place San Francisco.After taking two of three from the Giants last weekend, the Padres won behind another strong showing from of one of their starters.Correia (10-7)... (more...)

The Detroit Tigers finally won a road series.Johnny Damon hit a go-ahead, two-run triple in the eighth inning, Jhonny Peralta homered twice and the Tigers rallied to beat the slumping White Sox 13-8 on Sunday.Miguel Cabrera and Ryan Raburn also connected for the Tigers, who won for only the third time in 16 road games. Detroit also snapped a string of 10 straight road series losses dating to a two-game sweep at Oakland in May.The White Sox wrapped up a disappointing 2-4 homestand that opened with... (more...)

　  ST. LOUIS—Kyle Lohse’s first start in 85 days was a disaster. Same goes for the St. Louis Cardinals’ weekend.That’s fine with the Cubs who have won two straight series from their hated rivals.Derrek Lee homered his first two at-bats, helping the Cubs pummel a pitcher coming off forearm surgery and knock the Cardinals out of first place in the NL Central with a 9-7 victory on Sunday.Ryan Dempster (11-8) won his third straight start for the Cubs, who have won only four... (more...)

SAN DIEGO — Ryan Mathews was so nervous before his debut that he had to duck into the bathroom to throw up.He recovered quickly though. On his second NFL carry, Mathews was pushed back almost to the Chargers’ goal line, then powered through linebacker Lance Briggs and ran for 18 yards.Mathews had an impressive debut and the San Diego Chargers got along fine without holdouts Vincent Jackson and Marcus McNeill in a 25-10 exhibition victory over the Bears on Saturday night.Mathews, the... (more...)

A lot happened to the Detroit Tigers in the time between Alex Avila’s last two homers — almost all of it bad.Avila hit a two-run shot off substitute closer J.J. Putz in the ninth inning to send the Tigers to a 3-2 win over the White Sox on Saturday.Avila’s previous homer came on July 10, when Detroit beat Minnesota to take over first place in the AL Central. In between, the Tigers went 7-24 to fall 10 1/2 games behind the Twins.Devastated by injuries to several top players and... (more...)