Headlines with a Chicago slant

White Sox 3, Orioles 4: Sometimes a team can catch another team at a bad time; it’s happening right now with the White Sox. The Orioles are one of the worst teams in baseball. Mark Buehrle was quite blunt about that. But he losses me after that. “You look at their lineup and wonder how that team is that bad,” he said. No, I don’t wonder about that; 111 games, to this point, show you how they’re bad. It’s just one of those things.

Beckham lost, too: When it happened, Gordon Beckham had a more hopeful outlook for what turned out to be a strained groin: “After I dove for that ball, I thought it was my (protective) cup pinching my leg. But it started getting a little tight.” The injury is not expected to be serious, but any games without someone coming off a .410 wOBA month is too long.

Reds 11, Cubs 4: Redleg Nation had mucho celebratory sombreros to pass out after this one. While the Cubs continue to do whatever it is that they’re doing, the Reds took a two-game lead in the division with the sweep and a Cardinals rain delay.

Minor Bears news: Mike Teel (he’s the non-veteran fourth string QB the Bears signed a few weeks back) is out; Zeke Markshausen, the undrafted rookie wide receiver from Northwestern is in. The Bears have already seen Markshausen: he was part of minicamp. So don’t expect any surprises.

For more rather meaningless Bears news, check out Bears Brain Trust.

For a brief roundup of scores and news from the non-Chicago teams that matter, continue reading.

Teams/Games that matter & the blogs that love ‘em

AL Central

Twins 5, Indians 4: Brian Duensing, who replaced Nick Blackburn in the Twins’ rotation, made another start on Sunday. He kept it together despite some early struggles, according to Twinkie Town:

“More impressive than the five-run inning or Thome’s impressive home run, was Duensing’s ability to settle in after putting his team in an early deficit and keep the score from getting out of hand. He would strike down potential Cleveland rallies in the fourth and sixth, and he picked up 1-2-3 innings in the third, fifth and seventh.”

NL Central

Astros should move Pence: Crawfish Boxes goes through the pros and cons, but ultimately suggests a team ahead of the Cubs (/facepalm) should trade one of the two Astros people outside Houston are familiar with.

NBA

Rasheed might come back: Rasheed Wallace is already driving Celtics Hub crazy and A) the season hasn’t started and B) he hasn’t said he’s coming back.

NHL

The Blues need to follow the Blackhawks: St. Louis Game Time questions the Blues’ owners and points to the Blackhawks for a good model. No surprise here considering how happy they were when the Hawks won the Stanley Cup.

Welcome: The same Bears questions

If Brett Favre really does retire, it’s a good thing for the Bears. With Tavaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels on the field, two games on the schedule just became significantly easier. Football Outsiders Almanac 2010 had the Vikings at about 8-9 wins with Favre; imagine what that projection would look like now.

Still, there are too many problems with the Bears to guarantee them one of the top two spots in the division and a playoff berth. Favre retiring doesn’t mean …

• Mike Martz’s offense any more familiar to Jay Cutler.
• Cutler is a better fit for this offense.
• Brian Urlacher can stay healthy.
• Urlacher can be an effective player, even if he is healthy.
• Tommie Harris doesn’t suck.
• Julius Peppers can make up for Harris, if he is the Harris of the last two season.
• The offensive line can hold their blocks for the deep seven-step drops Martz’s offense requires.
• The wide receivers will be in the right place — the elusive spots in Martz’s offense that people talk about.

There are more things Favre’s supposed retirement doesn’t assure. But if he’s gone, the Bears’ questions become much less noticeable against the Vikings.

Headlines with a Chicago slant

White Sox 12, Tigers 2; White Sox 1, Tigers 7: Mark Buehrle’s warning came true in game two. After game one, the Sox starter said, “It could have been an ugly game. I didn’t have good command and fell behind early.”

When Jeff Frazier, Ryan Raburn and Danny Worth are on the opposing team it’s hard for things to get ugly. They managed to do it early against Carlos Torres though.

Brewers 4, Cubs 3: Compared to Casey Coleman yesterday, it was a much better debut for Thomas Diamond.

Blackhawks sign prospect Makarov: With all this extra money, the Hawks don’t just have to give players like Igor Makarov a spot on the roster. Even the most expensive young guys, i.e. Kyle Beech, are possible candidates.

Bulls opener in OKC: Hot off spending the summer together on Team USA, rumors of Derrick Rose and Kevin Durant forming a super team in Oklahoma City begin.

For a brief roundup of scores and news from the non-Chicago teams that matter, continue reading.

Teams/Games that matter & the blogs that love ‘em

AL Central

Twins 4, Rays 6: Twinkie Town reminisces about the old scoreboard at the Metrodome and breaks down the Twins’ loss. The Twins’ walked eight and gave up two three run home runs — “Walks Will Haunt.”

NBA

NBA schedule has limited release: On top of heading to OKC for their first game, the Bulls will also play the Knicks on Christmas Day, among other games announced.

Celtics close in on Shaq: Celtics Hub points out a couple reasons why it’s a bad idea to go after Shaq — ego, defense, etc. But he concedes, “if the C’s can get him in here for a veteran’s minimum deal, and he’s willing to come off the bench, they have to do it.”

NFL

Favre retiring? La la la la la. Brad Childress can’t hear you.

NHL

Red Wings sign Modano: Since Mike Modano is expected to sign with the Red Wings this week, Nightmare on Helm Street projects the Wings’ four lines and loves the depth he sees.

Welcome: Non-Stanley Cup-winning goalie Marty Turco

I hate that every time someone wrote or said something about Antti Niemi, they had to put “Stanley Cup-winning” in front of his name. Even now after the the Blackhawks decided to walk away from Niemi and the one-year, $2.75 million extension decided by an arbiter, there it is: “Stanley Cup-winning.”

Now that the Blackhawks’ goalie story is complete and they have signed Marty Turco to a $1.3 million deal, “twice-as-expensive” Antti Niemi or “still relatively unknown” Antti Niemi would be a more significant way to describe him. Because even though $2.75 million is probably a fair price for Niemi, the Stanley Cup-winning goalie isn’t worth twice as much as the reliable Turco.

“Stanley Cup-winning” is accurate, of course, it’s just not the most important factor in deciding to keep Niemi or not. It would have been a mistake for the Hawks to re-sign Niemi just because he won the Cup with them last season. Compared to the ruthless, rational decisions the Hawks have been forced to make this offseason, this would have been the opposite. If the front office thought Niemi was twice good, even nearly twice as good, they would have pulled the trigger, moved another player or two and signed Niemi.

They didn’t think Niemi was any of those things.

The Hawks didn’t let a few good weeks in the playoffs overrule that Niemi has only played in 61 total games and that we still don’t know how consistently good he can be. Teams that make decisions based on the past, especially small sample sizes in the past, usually come to regret them.

“Generally, playoff runs are money in the bank for goaltenders,” writes The Score’s Jonathan Willis. Front office decision-makers in all sports tend to over-emphasize playoff runs, allowing good, recent playoff performances to overrule other factors (experience, the player’s age, health or how good they really think he is).

With Niemi, this didn’t happen with the Blackhawks. And I think they’re all the better for it.

For a brief roundup of scores and news from the non-Chicago teams that matter, continue reading.

Headlines with a Chicago slant

Brewers 18, Cubs 1: Thank you, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia marathon. You saved me from hours of bad baseball.

Silva to the DL; Coleman and Diamond up: Damn! I missed Casey Coleman’s major league debut.

Wright hurt: The Bears’ top draft pick left practice yesterday with an injured groin muscle. Lovie Smith says the injury isn’t a big deal, which means Wright probably feels like this.

Teams/Games that matter & the blogs that love ‘em

AL Central

• Twins 2, Rays 4: The same night that Casey Coleman took the mound at Wrigley Field for his major league debut, so to did the Rays’ Jeremy Hellickson. The Rays’ top pitching prospect made his debut last night to give the regular starting pitchers an extended breather. Then, he dominated the Twins.
• Santana got decked: The picture grabs tell the story of Indians catcher Carlos Santana’s vicious collision with the Red Sox’s Ryan Kalish at The Diatribe.

NL Central

• Hart gets an extension: Disciples of Uecker breaks down the Brewers’ decision to extend Corey Hart’s contract.

NHL

• Blues extend Johnson: Blues defenseman and former No. 1 pick Erik Johnson agreed to a two-year contract extension worth $5.2 million, according to STL Today

Welcome: Post-trade deadline thoughts

If anything and everything has to have winners and losers then both the Cubs and the White Sox lost the trade deadline. The Sox more than the Cubs because what the White Sox were hoping to do matters a whole hell of a lot more.

The Cubs’ only deadline deal can be broken down into two separate deal. Break it down and the Cubs traded Ryan Theriot for Blake DeWitt; also, they traded Ted Lilly and $2.5 million for a decent prospect (Brett Wallach) and a low prospect (Kyle Smit).

In DeWitt, the Cubs got younger at the scrappy, over-loved (and he will be over-loved) infielder position. But to get anything decent, the Cubs basically had to buy him. Wallach isn’t a member of the Cubs without the $2.5 million; Lilly himself didn’t bring back much in return. I’m not saying the Cubs screwed up; I guess I just thought Ted Lilly was more valuable. Apparently, he wasn’t. (More on this later today).

On the South Side, Kenny Williams and company can spin that they’re happy to have Edwin Jackson. Maybe to some degree they would prefer to have Jackson over Daniel Hudson. But Williams can’t even fake his excitement as well as this guy holding a fish (photo via thecip at South Side Sox)

There are too many reports that say Williams and the Sox are upset with the Nationals for changing their minds at the last minute regarding Jackson. When the Nationals had the chance to get Jackson from the White Sox, they suddenly decided they preferred what they were already playing with.

That’s the Nationals’ prerogative. But when Dunn no longer seemed like he was a possibility, Williams definitely moved on to Lance Berkman and reportedly looked at Manny Ramirez. He even had a deal in place for Berkman, but the former Astro decided he rather play for the Yankees.

The White Sox lost at the deadline because I think Williams thinks they lost.

For more headlines and news from non-Chicago teams that matter, continue reading.

Headlines with a Chicago slant

Guillen: MLB favors Asians over Latinos: Whether what Ozzie Guillen says is way off base or in the right direction, true or false, it won’t be taken seriously just because of the man who said it. He’s definitely right about this: most people, especially those outside of Chicago, only care about the things he says. Per Guillen:

“All they care about — how many times I argue with the umpires, what I say to the media.”

A’s 1, White Sox 4: As for baseball, the White Sox won again. And Gavin Floyd was solid again — 7 innings, four hits, three walks, five strikeouts and one run.

Cubs 7, Rockies 8: Things didn’t go as smoothly in Denver for the Cubs. Aramis Ramirez was scratched because of his thumb and Carlos Silva left the game in the first because of an abnormal heart rate. Silva stayed in the hospital overnight and didn’t make the trip back to Chicago with the team.

Bears camp continues: At Bourbonnais, a few people are hurt, Mike Tice is extremely honest, among other Bears news. Links and more Bears thoughts are at Bears Brain Trust.

Teams/Games that matter & the blogs that love ‘em

AL Central

• Mariners 0, Twins 4: The Mariners had no chance to win this game. It’s hard to win when you can’t score runs. From Twinkie Town: “Liriano burned the edges of the strike zone and threw a lot of ridiculously unhittable pitches, all of it culminating in seven shutout innings and eleven strikeouts.”
• Tigers 3, Red Sox 4: It may be time to drop the Tigers from the teams that matter list. Especially if this is the mind set of the Tigers fan. from Roar of the Tigers: “At least all three games were close.”

NL Central

• Pirates 1, Cardinals 9: This weekend sure solidified the idea that the Cardinals’ offense isn’t the team’s biggest issue.. Even if all this damage came against the Pirates.
• Cards fans still have questions: Before the win, Viva el Birdos tried to figure out why the Cardinals made the trade for Jake Westbrook.
• Braves 1, Reds 2: Reds fans can’t find any negatives after this one. “Cincinnati took 2 of 3 from the NL East leaders, before the largest crowd for a weekend series in Great American Ballpark history,” writes Redleg Nation. “I’ve been waiting years for this.”
• What’s with Braun?:Disciples of Uecker (love that name) are worried about Ryan Braun’s power.

Welcome: Derrek Lee

Not that it matters, but Derrek Lee says he had his reasons for refusing a trade to the Angels. From the Tribune:

“I didn’t just say no right away. … You’re not the only one moving. It affects other people in your life. You have to discuss it with them, take it all into consideration.”

Lee’s decision may make you wonder why he’d want to stick around this crappy team for the next few months. The situation won’t be any better when Carlos Zambrano returns and demands people call him “Drew.” Nobody likes that guy.

People do like Lee though. Some Cubs fans have turned on him this season because Lee has been admittedly awful at the plate. And here he had a far different way to help the Cubs, but passed on it. Instead, he’ll play out the season in Chicago, leave at the end of the year and the Cubs will probably get nothing for him.

At the end of the season, the Cubs can offer him arbitration. Lee is currently considered a “Type B” free agent, so receiving a supplemental pick between the first and second round in the draft is a possibility. However, The Cubs are usually cautious of offering arbitration, afraid the player will just sign the one-year deal.

They’ll probably be cautious with Lee, too. Right now, at least, Lee is telling us he doesn’t want to leave. I don’t usually agree with Phil Rogers, but I don’t think it takes a great mind to read between the lines and see Lee is hinting that he wants to remain a Cub — even if he won’t say so.

And the way he’s hitting right now (and he’ll be 35 next season) he isn’t a priority.

Headlines with a Chicago slant

Cubs 1, Astros 8:Carlos Lee joined Lance Berkman and Hunter Pence as a respectable hitter, at least for one game. But even with the three of them raking, why is no one raking Bud Norris. Norris is young; maybe one day he’ll be good. But now, he’s not.

Mariners 5, White Sox 6: Bobby Jenks dominated the same team who just last week started the Sox-need-a-closer-panic. I don’t think the White Sox need to be looking outside their clubhouse for a closer. The bullpen, in general, has been great.

Niemi day has come: Later today, the Blackhawks, Antti Niemi and an arbiter will meet. I don’t think anyone believes this will end up in the Hawks’ favor.

Thibodeau cleans house: Until last night, Pete Myers remained the lone holdover from Vinny Del Negro’s coaching staff. Now he’s gone, too.

For a brief roundup of scores and news from the non-Chicago teams that matter, continue reading.

Teams/Games that matter & the blogs that love ‘em

AL Central

Twins 6, Royals 4: Twinkie Town asks if Chicago hears footsteps. (Probably referring to the Twins’ position in the standings and not an angry mob moving southward). The answer is yes. And if Delmon Young keeps hitting like this, the footsteps are loud, too.

Royals trade Podsednik: The White Sox replaced Scott Podsednik with Juan Pierre; so the Dodgers have replaced Pierre with, you guessed it, Podsednik. The circle of slap hitters that are bad at baseball.

Tigers 4, Rays 7: However, I don’t hear any footsteps coming from Detroit — baseball standings or angry mob. The Tigers are five games back and they seem to lose about everyday.

NL Central

Cardinals 8, Mets 7: The last time Jaime Garcia and Johan Santana squared off, it took 20 innings to find a winner. It didn’t last that long yesterday, but it did take require extras.

Reds 10, Brewers 2: It doesn’t matter who is coming out of the Reds’ bullpen lately, they’ve been good. From Redleg Nation:

“The bullpen was great yesterday. Today, it was an almost entirely different cast of characters — CoCo, Nick Masset, Arthur Rhodes, and Jordan Smith — but they were equally good.”

NBA

Pistons re-sign Bynum: The Pistons have their answer for C.J. Watson: Will Bynum. In all seriousness, PistonPowered thinks this deal, with some improvement by Bynum, is a steal.

Magic virtually get CP3; avoid tampering charges: The Hornets blog Hornets247 gave his TrueHoop Network friends a chance to “virtually” trade for Chris Paul. Hornets247 would select the best deal. The winner: Magic Basketball.

NHL

Blues make a trade: The Blues traded D.J. King to the Capitals for … apparently no one as of right now.

Headlines with a Chicago slant

Dunn deal: If it’s Daniel Hudson and Brent Morel, Tyler Flowers or Jordan Danks, I say do it. That’s what Bruce Levine says the Nationals want.

Mariners 0, White Sox 11: Ryan Rowland-Smith said after the game that he was leaving the ball up and it cost him. You can say that again.

Cubs 1, Astros 6: Goodbye, Ted Lilly.

Bulls apparently move past T-Mac: The addition of Tracy McGrady no longer appears likely. Instead, the Bulls have moved to other available guards: Roger Mason, Keith Bogans, or my personal favorite, Eddie House. With any of those instead of T-Mac, the roster wouldn’t look as pretty, but I think it’s better.

Hawks sign Leddy: Nick Leddy, who was acquired from Minnesota in the Cam Barker deal, signed a three-year, $2.7 million deal with the Blackhawks. He’ll leave the U of Minnesota after his freshman season and try to make the Hawks’ roster. He’s one to watch; some compared his play in prospect camp to Brian Campbell.

For a brief roundup of scores and news from the non-Chicago teams that matter, continue reading.

Teams/Games that matter & the blogs that love ‘em

AL Central

Twins 11, Royals 2: For the second straight night, the Twins ripped 19 hits. But yesterday they scored only 11 runs, to Monday’s 19. Pfft.

Tigers 2, Rays 3: Tigers fans consider themselves quite tortured lately. And maybe you’ve seen this somewhere else, but according to Bless You Boys Justin Verlander got a Greinke last night. No, he didn’t get lit up, like Zack Greinke surprisingly did on Monday; Verlander threw a complete game, but lost.

NL Central

Cardinals 2, Mets 8: Coming off a really rough road trip, the Mets bounced back at home against the Cardinals. Per MetsBlog.com:

The Mets seemed to have a plan at the plate tonight …

The plan against Adam Wainwright is usually to stand there and look like a fool, but the Mets took a different approach.

Also from Metsblog:

… they were patient, it didn’t feel like they were pressing, they rattled Wainwright and scored eight runs on the night. In fact, the Mets had five walks tonight. Imagine that.”

Reds 12, Brewers 4:

NBA

Sessions-West/Telfair trade: Cavs: the blog breaks down the deal.

Busy day for the Magic: GM Otis Smith and coach Stan Van Gundy received extensions; the new Amway Center takes a step towards completion; and Magic Basketball tries to swing a virtual deal for Chris Paul.

There are conflicting reports on whether Tracy McGrady intends to pout like this on the bench, should the Bulls sign him.

Headlines with a Chicago slant

T-Mac works out; runs his mouth: After the workout, Tracy McGrady used “we” a lot when talking about the Bulls’ plans this season. “We” may be a bit premature, especially if he can’t accept a reserve role, which he doesn’t seem ready to do. McGrady said last season he would have accepted a bench role based on how he played; this season’s version, however, thinks he may be good enough to start.

Mariners 1, White Sox 6: In less than a week’s time, the White Sox figured out Felix Hernandez. In seven innings, the White Sox scored four runs on nine hits. A much-improved showing from last week’s two hits in eight innings. The Mariners, on the other hand, have not figured out John Danks. In three starts, Danks has given up only three runs on 15 hits.

Cubs 5, Astros 2: This is what’s supposed to happen against the Astros. The Cubs were 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position; they left a ton of men on base; still, they won because the ’stros are awful.

Z apologizes: In an interview with ESPN’s Pedro Gomez, Carlos Zambrano apologized to everyone. We’ve all heard Zambrano’s apologies before, however, I don’t know we’ve heard him acknowledge his poor performance. “If I play better and do the right things, everything will be fine in Chicago,” he said.

He also said he hopes to stay with the Cubs. Whether the Cubs agree with this or not, the rest of Major League Baseball is going to keep Zambrano in Chicago.

For a brief roundup of scores and news from the non-Chicago teams that matter, continue reading.

Teams/Games that matter & the blogs that love ‘em

AL Central

Twins 19, Royals 1: Twinkie Town called this game a “one-percenter”: one of those few times when everything goes right. When Zack Grienke starts, the odds are probably less than that.

Tigers 0, Rays 5: The “Tigers” were no-hit by the Rays’ Matt Garza. Roar of the Tigers says “Tigers” because of back-up-filled lineup in there last night:

“Not to take anything away from Matt Garza, but the Tigers lineup tonight included Will Rhymes (yet to achieve his first big league hit), Ryan Raburn (batting .204), Don Kelly (.206), Gerald Laird (.182), and Danny Worth (.250 in limited action). Three or arguably four of those guys (depending on how you feel about Rhino) are really minor leaguers … “

NL Central

Reds 2, Brewers 3: Scott Rolen was welcomed back to the Reds lineup last night. In his first at-bat, he was hit by Randy Wolf. Red Reporter has this right: “Wolf walks a lot of batters, but hitting them is more efficient.”

NBA

Let’s make the Pistons more interesting: Some team is going to take Shaq. The Pistons, perhaps?

The headline says (almost) all of it: From Celtics Hub: “Jermaine O’Neal is the starting center for the Boston Celtics.” Well, he is until about the All-Star break.

NHL

Preds sign Parent: Ryan Parent, who was obtained from Philadelphia in exchange for the rights to Dan Hamhuis, was signed by the Predators on Monday. When the trade occurred last month, the Flyers blog Broad Street Hockey strongly summed up Parent for Preds fans: “Right now, though, Parent is not an NHL defenseman.”

Well, the Predators signed Parent to a one-way contract, so odds are he will be an NHL defenseman.

Headlines with a Chicago slant

Reasoner for Taffe: In a deal that saved $600,000, the Blackhawks swapped Marty Reasoner and Jeff Taffe. It also brings the Hawks another guy who says his name weird. It’s pronounced Tayf.

Blackhawks sign Brophey: The Blackhawks signed Evan Brophey to a one-year, two-way contract, according to CapGeek. The dollar amount was not included, but come on, it’s Evan Brophey, surely it’s reasonable.

For a brief roundup of scores and news from the non-Chicago teams that matter, continue reading.

Teams/Games that matter & the blogs that love ‘em

AL Central

Blue Jays 2, Tigers 5: “When (Justin) Verlander is on the mound, pitching as he did against the Jays, the Tigers are an upper echelon team,” writes Bless You Boys. To be elite, Jim Leyland could ask Verlander to throw more than every fifth day. Verlander already throws more pitches than all but three guys in the league, so it’d be a lot to ask.

Twins 5, Orioles 0: Carl Pavano and his mustache were like poetry last night.

Royals trade Callaspo: Royals shortstop Alberto Callaspo was traded to the Angels for Will Smith and Sean O’Sullivan. Royals Authority says Callaspo was traded about half-a-season too late; with Callaspo’s value at its lowest, the best the Royals could get was a pitcher who once was Baseball America’s No. 5 prospect. He’s not anymore, though.

NL Central

Phillies 2, Cardinals 0: In an event that doesn’t happen often: Adam Wainwright was out-dominated. Yesterday, Cole Hamels was the one to do it.

Oswalt rumors: These two teams are the primary favorites to land Roy Oswalt. Although, the Twins would like to be included in that conversation as well.

Nationals 7, Reds 1: Redleg Nation writes this: “Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!! Tailspin!!!! The sky is falling! Everyone PANIC!!!!! ” It was in bold, too. BOLD!!!

Doumit to the DL: Another player with a concussion; this time it’s Pirates catcher Ryan Doumit.

NBA

Magic Paul: The Magic are on Chris Paul’s list of preferred teams, even if Magic Basketball has its doubts. Needless to say, the rest of the league prefers pretty much any team but this team.

Daniels back with Celtics: Despite a not-so-good 2010, Marquis Daniels not only re-signed with the Celtics, but got a raise. It all happened because the Celtics had to do it and Daniels needed to take it, says Celtics Hub.

Headlines with a Chicago slant

Gonzalez to be interviewed?: (A rather subdued Skip Bayless is on the other end of this link. Still, you’ve been warned.) An ESPN source says that former Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez will be among those interviewed by Jim Hendry for Lou Piniella’s old job. Eh. Not interested.

Astros 4, Cubs 3: Ted Lilly may have completed his last season in a Cubs uniform with a 3-8 record. Another bad contract handed out by Jim Hendry.

White Sox 1, Mariners 2: An excellent game ruined by Bobby Jenks’ breaking ball being a no-show … again.

Bulls talking about House; taking a look at McGrady: Neither are very strong reports, but sources have confirmed the Bulls have recognized that Eddie House and Tracy McGrady are, in fact, free agents. The Bulls have “talked about” House, according to Dime; and numerous outlets are reporting that the Bulls are evaluating McGrady’s health.

Bears finalize camp roster: The Bears made a couple of last minute additions and subtractions to their 80-man roster. With a little over a week before Bourbonnais kicks off, I assume this is the final roster.

For a brief roundup of scores and news from the non-Chicago teams that matter, continue reading.

Teams/Games that matter & the blogs that love ‘em

AL Central

Indians 0, Twins 6: The Twins picked up a win and also got a solid debut from reliever Anthony Slama. Per Twinkie Town:

“In his debut, Slama started by allowing a single after throwing back-to-back fastballs. But once he started throwing his off-speed stuff, the game was over.”

Blackburn to the bullpen: If you’re a Twins fan, Nick Blackburn has fallen on the wrong side of the wire thin success/failure line, according to Aaron Gleeman.

Rangers 1, Tigers 4: Bless You Boys knows the Tigers needed a win in the worst way. The Tigers blog just wonders how Gerald Laird and Max Scherzer were able to play such a big part in it.

NHL

Blues re-sign Perron: Forward David Perron signed a two-year, $4.3 million extension with the Blues.

Welcome: Lou Piniella’s retirement

With a better roster, maybe there would be more in Lou Piniella that the Cubs could use. And maybe Piniella would have more of a reason to stay. Or at the very least, he’d have to think about it a little longer.

But because this is the Cubs roster and Piniella knows right now that he’s had enough, he announced what pretty much every knew anyways: he won’t be returning next season.

It’s easy to see why he would want to get away at the end of the year. This season especially, Piniella has tried a lot of things to turn this season around. The only reason he is usually saying, “What do you want me to do?” after the game is because he’s tried it all — moving people around in the order, moving people to the bullpen, and he has all but refused to play Kosuke Fukudome or other overpaid players if they aren’t producing. None of it matters.

And if he decided to stay, it would be a lot more of the same next season. The way this team is constructed, he would have been stuck with a blend of rebuilding team made of young players and old, bad contracts the Cubs can’t give away; plus, like Lou said, he is going to be 67.

There are a lot of reasons for Piniella to walk away at the end of the season and so it came as no surprise when he announced it.

There also wasn’t much to take out of Piniella’s press conference, other than that he doesn’t think his four years were a failure. They were. Even though my gut says that Piniella will be a better manager than whomever they have next season.

Headlines with a Chicago slant

Astros 7, Cubs 14: Aramis Ramirez looks like he’s all the way back and I think he’s made himself a viable trade candidate for teams looking for a third baseman — like the Tigers.

White Sox 4, Mariners 0: I don’t know what to say other than this was a near perfect game by the White Sox. John Danks was great; the defense behind him was solid; and the offense was consistently on base even if they “only” scored four runs.

Bears sign Mike Teel: Because someone has to throw the ball to Vic Hall in Bourbonnais.

For a brief roundup of scores and news from the non-Chicago teams that matter, continue reading.

Teams/Games that matter & the blogs that love ‘em

AL Central

Indians 4, Twins 3: In the seventh inning, with one out and the potential go-ahead run on second base, the $184 million, No. 3 hitter for the Twins laid down a bunt. This has Twins fans very upset. As it should.

Twins notes: Aaron Gleeman breaks down a minor move in the Twins’ bullpen. And it looks like Justin Morneau is going to need more time on the DL, says Ron Gardenhire, “You talk to him; he’s groggy and he can’t do anything about it”

Rangers 8, Tigers 0: Armando Galarraga was inconsistent on Tuesday night, but there were problems with the Tigers’ offense as well. Roar of the Tigers has Galarraga’s back:

“Like, I appreciate that you (Galarraga) were able to stretch yourself into the 8th inning somehow, that’s miraculous and I applaud it, but APPARENTLY Tommy Hunter is some sort of UNSTOPPABLE PITCHING MACHINE and you can’t just GIVE him four runs and expect to get away with it. Who the hell knew? Not us, because as everyone knows the AL West is a fabrication and a lie, just like Mountain Time and fat-free crackers that really do taste like the regular crackers.”

NL Central

Phillies 1, Cardinals 7: The Cardinals have now won seven straight.

Nationals 7, Reds 8: After getting an early 8-1 lead and a nearly three hour rain delay, Micah Owings and Bill Bray nearly blew this game for the Reds, giving up six runs in the sixth. It got so close, the good half of the Reds bullpen — Nick Masset, Arthur Rhodes and Francisco Cordero — were forced to be Red Reporter’s Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Stars of the Game.

NBA

Barnes is still not a Raptor: From the Orlando Sentinel: The Raptors and the Magic cannot execute a sign-and-trade that would pay Matt Barnes $4.5 million in the first year; the Raptors don’t have the cap room or a mid-level exception; and the Magic don’t have the cap room either, and their non-Bird exception for Barnes would pay Barnes just $1.92 million for a first-year salary.

I guess some teams don’t follow @LarryCoon.

Celtics’ big problem: The Celtics need a rebounder, according to Celtics Hub.

Financially forced into nothing: Hoopinion is bargaining with the Hawks being a 53-win team in Basketball Hell. There are no available players who can push them over the edge for a championship, and even if there were, the Hawks don’t have the money..

Howard a Heat: Roster spot No. 12, and the chance to play with The Big ‘03, goes to Juwan Howard. HeatHoops breaks it down.