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The July 4th weekend is especially sweet for the Amarillo Dusters after beating Aaron Williams turned in another solid defensive performance against the Talons. He is now back home in Dusters receiver Jim Lukowiak scored two of the team's touchdowns and caught five passes for 65 yards to contribute to the Dusters victory. "This is definitely a lot better than our first bye week," Lukowiak said. "Now I'm thinking about the rest of the season. We need to finish strong and make the playoffs." Lukowiak is in Players aren't the only Dusters kicking back for the Fourth of July. Head Coach Chris MacKeown is also taking some much needed time off. "I'm spending more time with my family," MacKeown said. "We're going to Wonderland and going to see fireworks. I also got to go out with my wife for the first time in a long time." It's not all play and no work for the Dusters head coach. He said he is slowly putting together the scouting report and game plan for Tri-Cities. "Last Saturday's win was just one win," MacKeown said. "Three more and we will cement our chances of being able to play for a championship." The Dusters face a long road trip and a tough challenge against the Tri-Cities Fever. The team will return home to take on the Lubbock Renegades one more time in the regular season on Monday, July 21.
Alexandria scored five runs in the second inning and went on to beat the Amarillo Dillas last night in a makeup game from the first half of the United League race. The Dillas managed just six hits on the night and committed two errors. The win clinches a playoff berth for the Aces. The teams meet again tonight in the regularly scheduled game at 7:05 p.m. The Dillas did announced a player move yesterday. The team traded outfielder Joel Gonzales to the Harlingen WhiteWings for a player to be named later.
Alex Rodriguez clubbed a three-run homer as part of a nine-run seventh inning as the New York Yankees went on to rip the Texas Rangers 18-7 in the final meeting between the two teams at Yankees Stadium. Former Ranger Sidney Ponson allowed all seven Texas runs in a no-decision against his former team. Milton Bradley and Chris Davis hit two-run homers, and Josh Hamilton had two RBI for the Rangers. Reliever Warner Madrigal was charged for six runs to take the loss. Texas took two out of the three games in the series from New York. They'll have tonight off before starting a three-game weekend series in Baltimore against the Orioles on Friday.
Andre Ethier and James Loney both hit solo homers to back a strong outing from Chad Billingsley, as the Dodgers edged the Astros 5-2 in the finale of a four-game series at Minute Maid Park. Billingsley permitted two unearned runs on six hits over eight frames to improve to 8-and-7 with the win. Takashi Saito gave up a pair of hits in the ninth, but held on for his 14th save. Loney drove in another run on a first inning double, while Blake DeWitt singled in a pair of runs for Los Angeles, which won three-of-four in the series. J.R. Towles doubled in both runs for the Astros, who have dropped three in-a-row on the heels of three-game win streak. Brandon Backe struck out eight over six-and-two-thirds innings, but yielded five runs on seven hits to dip to 5-and-9.
Evan Longoria doubled in the go-ahead runs in a six-run seventh inning as the Rays rallied to complete a three-game sweep of the Red Sox with a 7-6 win at The Trop. Longoria finished 3-for-4 with three RBI for Tampa Bay, which moved 20 games over .500 at 52-and-32 while extending its AL East lead over Boston to three-and-a-half games. Carl Crawford had three hits and scored a run for the Rays. Gary Glover got win in relief and Dan Wheeler notched his third save. Craig Hansen allowed three runs in relief without recording an out to take the loss for the Red Sox, who have dropped five in-a-row. Dustin Pedroia finished 4-for-5 with a home run, a triple, two doubles and two runs batted in for Boston.
The Dallas Stars have signed unrestricted free agent Sean Avery. The four-year pact is worth 15.5-million-dollars in whole. Avery will make 3.5-million-dollars the first season, then four-million each additional year. Avery played last season for the New York Rangers and had 15 goals, 33 points and 154 penalty minutes. However, he made headlines during the postseason when he started waving his arms and stick in front of Devils goalie Martin Brodeur during a first-round playoff game. The day following the incident, the NHL issued a new interpretation of its unsportsmanlike conduct rule. He then suffered a ruptured spleen in the Eastern Conference semifinals, ending his season. Avery has also played with the Red Wings and Kings. He has 65 NHL goals and 102 helpers to go with 1,067 penalty minutes.
Brett Favre is reportedly considering coming out of retirement to play for the Packers in 2008. ESPN.com is reporting Favre has an "itch" to come out of retirement and report to training camp later this month, according to sources close to the team and player. A team source told the network Favre has been in touch with head coach Mike McCarthy about the possibility, but there have been no serious talks about the situation. Favre retired in early March after an illustrious 17-year career. He is currently the NFL's all-time leader in several categories, including wins by a starting quarterback, passing yards, touchdowns and consecutive games started. The 38-year-old has thrown for 61,655 yards and 442 TDs over 257 games. He earned three MVP awards and seven trips to the Pro Bowl over his career.
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are just a match each away from a third-straight meeting in the men's final at Wimbledon. Seeded number-one and -two respectively, the two men were quarterfinals winners at the All England Club Wednesday. Federer, the five-time defending champion, defeated unseeded Mario Ancic 6-1, 7-5, 6-4. The top-ranked Swiss man served up 15 aces as he won in an hour and 41 minutes on the Centre Court. Meanwhile, Nadal cruised to a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win over Scotsman Andy Murray. Nadal didn't allow one break-point chance to Murray during the one-hour, 55-minute match. Federer will face former world number-one Marat Safin in Friday's semifinals. The unseeded Russian continued his return to form with a 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 win over 31st-seeded Feliciano Lopez. Federer is 8-and-2 lifetime against Safin, and 2-and-1 against him at Grand Slam events. Nadal will face one of two unseeded players in the semis. The match between German Rainer Schuettler and Frenchman Arnaud Clement was suspended until Thursday due to darkness. At the time, the match was tied at a set apiece, 6-3, 5-7.
The Williams sisters will face off again for the women's title at Wimbledon. The American siblings won their respective semifinals Thursday, while German Rainer Schuettler advanced to the men's semifinals. Seventh-seeded Venus Williams, the reigning champion at the All England Club, upset fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva to advance to her seventh Wimbledon final appearance. Williams jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first set, before dispatching the Russian 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) on the Centre Court. Meantime, Serena ended the surprising run of Chinese player Jie Zheng in the quarterfinals. Williams, seeded sixth, bested Jie 6-2, 7-6 (7-5). The unseeded Jie had defeated top-seeded Ana Ivanovic and 18th-seed Nicole Vaidisova to advance to the semifinals. Serena won the previous Wimbledon finals between the siblings, in 2002 and 2003.
MLB National League ------ Florida Marlins 4, Washington Nationals 2 Philadelphia Phillies 7, Atlanta Braves 3 Pittsburgh Pirates 9, Cincinnati Reds 5 Los Angeles Dodgers 4, Houston Astros 1 St. Louis Cardinals 8, New York Mets 7 Colorado Rockies 8, San Diego Padres 1 Milwaukee Brewers 4, Arizona Diamondbacks 3 Chicago Cubs 6, San Francisco Giants 5 MLB American League ------ Minnesota Twins 7, Detroit Tigers 0 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 7, Oakland Athletics 4 Baltimore Orioles 5, Kansas City Royals 2 New York Yankees 18, Texas Rangers 7 Tampa Bay Rays 7, Boston Red Sox 6 Chicago White Sox 6, Cleveland Indians 5 (10 inn) Seattle Mariners 4, Toronto Blue Jays 2 United League ------- Alexandria 6, Amarillo 3 ______________________________________________________ KGNC NewsTalk 710 Sports Links |
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Dusters Enjoying Time Off