Justin Morneau added two doubles for the Twins, who trailed 2-0 heading into the ninth thanks to a strong start from A’s right-hander Jarrod Parker.

But Jamey Carroll led off the ninth with a single against Brian Fuentes (2-1), who then walked Denard Span. With two out, Willingham hit a 1-0 pitch into the bullpen and was mobbed by teammates at home plate.

The Athletics squandered another late-inning lead to lose for the seventh time in a row. The Twins ended Ryan Cook’s 23-inning scoreless streak in the eighth inning Monday en route to a 5-4 victory.

Parker allowed four hits, walked four and struck out four in six shutout innings for the A’s.

Glen Perkins (1-1) pitched the ninth for the Twins and Fuentes, the former Twins reliever, blew his second save in six chances this season.

Willingham had just four hits in his previous 28 at-bats when he sent the rocket over the fence in the ninth for his ninth homer.

Collin Cowgill’s base hit in the seventh gave the Athletics a 1-0 lead and Coco Crisp’s single in the eighth made it 2-0, but that was all their weak-hitting lineup could muster while they wait to see if Manny Ramirez can give them a much-needed jolt.

The A’s left 12 runners on base and couldn’t take advantage of control problems by jittery Twins starter Cole De Vries, who was able to pitch five shutout innings while walking five and hitting another batter.

While Ramirez is working on his timing with Triple-A Sacramento following a 50-game suspension, the beleaguered A’s offense entered the night hitting an MLB-worst .211 this season.

De Vries gave the sputtering offense plenty of opportunities to get going. He walked five and hit a batter in the first three innings, but the Twins turned two double plays and Seth Smith grounded out to first with the bases loaded in the third.

De Vries is from the Minneapolis suburb of Eden Prairie and played in college at the University of Minnesota. The 27-year-old was signed as a rookie free agent in 2006 and languished in the majors for six years before finally making his debut with the Twins this year.

This was his first start at home, and there seemed to be plenty of jitters early on.

The right-hander was able to settle down eventually, needing just 22 pitches to get through the next two innings before giving way to Manship.

Offense hasn’t been much of an issue lately for the Twins, whose 69 runs scored in the last two weeks are the highest total in the majors. But Parker had them flailing for six innings.

Pitching against a Twins offense that has scored 69 runs in the last two weeks, he routinely hit 94 mph with his fastball on the Target Field radar gun and buckled knees on several occasions with a superb changeup. He got some help from his defense, including a running, bare-handed pickup by shortstop Cliff Pennington to get speedy Ben Revere to end the third and prevent Denard Span from scoring and a nifty double play from Brandon Inge at third base that stranded another runner in scoring position in the fifth.

Parker capped his night by getting Trevor Plouffe to ground into a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded in the sixth.

NOTES: A’s manager Bob Melvin said they are leaving their options open when OF Yeonis Cespedes comes off the disabled list. The A’s are exploring the idea of moving Cespedes to one of the corner outfield positions, likely LF, and keeping Coco Crisp in CF. Cespedes’ stronger arm and comfort with the idea makes it a possibility, Melvin said. … Crisp extended his franchise record to 30 straight steal attempts without getting caught in the third inning. … The Twins announced that LHP Phil Dumatrait, who was rehabbing a shoulder injury, decided to retire. The Twins then released him so he would be free to sign with any team if he changed his mind down the road. … The A’s will send RHP Tyson Ross (2-5, 5.79) to the mound in the series finale on Wednesday to face LHP Francisco Liriano (0-5, 8.47). Liriano will be making his first start since being demoted to the bullpen on May 9. He made five relief appearances. Ross is 1-5 with a 7.36 ERA in his last six starts.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Also losing from MLS in the third round were Chicago, New England, Los Angeles, Dallas, Columbus and Houston against lower-division opponents.

The Stars grabbed a 1-0 lead in the third minute on Venegas’ header during a scramble. Salt Lake evened the score in the 29th minute on Luis Gil’s shot from the top of the penalty area.

Just before halftime, RSL defender Jamison Olave committed a handball and Neil Hlavaty buried the penalty kick it in the upper left corner of the net.

The lead ballooned to 3-1 in the 58th minute when Simone Bracalello latched onto a cross and sent the ball past goalkeeper Kyle Reynish.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A high school hockey player who was paralyzed last year says he made a big step Tuesday night in his recovery.

Jack Jablonski tweeted that he “slightly moved” his left leg and left finger. He followed that message with the tag (#bigday).

Jablonski suffered a paralyzing hit during a hockey game in December.

But the Minnesota Vikings rookie is on his own now. And that, he says, is a humbling honor.

The Vikings began spring practice Tuesday — known around the league as organized team activities — but Walsh said being on top of the depth chart didn’t feel any different to him.

Longwell was let go earlier this month in a cost-cutting move by the rebuilding Vikings, who have handed this important job to the sixth-round draft pick out of Georgia. Walsh is a former soccer prodigy who became burnt out on that sport and switched to football in high school.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson issued her order from St. Paul, Minn.

Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end Carl Eller, a former Minnesota Vikings star, was the lead plaintiff in the complaint that argued current players and their attorneys had no right to bargain with NFL owners about retiree benefits because they weren’t legally a union last summer.

Michael Hausfeld, the lead lawyer for the retired players, said his group plans to appeal Nelson’s decision to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis.

In an interview from his office in Washington, Hausfeld called Nelson’s findings “elucidating and disappointing overall.” There were several dozen ex-players, many of them Hall of Famers, on the lawsuit who felt they were cheated by the current players. They estimated between $300 million and $500 million in additional benefits they were promised in the early stages of collective bargaining agreement talks and didn’t get when the labor dispute was settled last summer.

They contended they were pushed out of negotiations to streamline the mediation process despite a court order for their inclusion. Those labor talks led to the new CBA between the owners and players and saved the 2011 season.

The lawsuit named NFLPA boss DeMaurice Smith, New England quarterback Tom Brady and former Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel. Brady and Vrabel were plaintiffs on the antitrust lawsuit filed by the current players against the NFL in March before the lockout.

The union’s response to the complaint was filed under seal, and the NFLPA has declined to comment on the case.

“The decision says it is clear that the active players took advantage of the retirees’ situations to benefit themselves, and that’s just a classical incident or consequence of the fact that they held all the marbles,” Hausfeld said. “That’s a sad commentary on the functioning of the union, and it’s an even sadder commentary on the richest pro sport in the country.”

Nelson wrote that she accepted the factual allegations by the Eller class as true but disagreed that the current players acted illegally. She ruled that since the active players were negotiating their own contract with the league, they had no obligation to take “a smaller share of the pie for themselves” in order to give the retirees a bigger slice.

The former players claimed the current players owed them a “fiduciary duty,” but Nelson denied the legal existence of such a relationship.

“And there can be no dispute that a better package of benefits was in fact obtained for the retired players in the 2011 CBA as compared to those in the former CBA. No jury could reasonably find that the active players did not do better by the retired players in the 2011 CBA,” Nelson wrote.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The team announced Tuesday it will face the Chicago Bulls on Oct. 13, followed by an exhibition against a professional club from Israel on Oct. 16.

This is the first time in the franchise’s 24-year history the Wolves will host an international team. They traveled to Turkey for a game in 2007, but this is the first matchup in Minnesota against a foreign club. Maccabi Bazan Haifa, which plays in the Israeli Basketball Super League, will also visit the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 11. The team, formed in 1954, is owned by American businessman Jeffrey Rosen.

The remainder of the Wolves’ preseason slate and the 2012-13 regular season schedule will be unveiled in the coming months.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Each week we’ll be providing you with insight into the best (and worst) baseball players to play in your fantasy baseball league.

As I turn in this week’s column, I own a three strikeout lead on my opponent in my one head-to-head league, and he still has Jonny Venters in the Sunday Night game. If I don’t turn in a column next week, it’s because the suspense has killed me.

5 UP

1. Norichika Aoki, OF, MIL: Aoki has moved into an everyday role in right field for Milwaukee, forcing their hand with his performance so far this season. Another 2-for-4 day Sunday raises his average to .313 with decent doubles power and a healthy 8.4% walk rate. He has 11 runs in 95 plate appearances and that rate should skyrocket with regular plate appearances in front of Ryan Braun. He won’t provide much in RBI or HR, and he only has one stolen base, but it can be extremely hard to find high-average guys at this point in the season and Aoki could be one.

2. Tom Wilhelmsen, RP, SEA: With Brandon League out as closer in Seattle, the Mariners are going to a committee. Expect Wilhelmsen to come out on top. The 28-year-old righty has 30 strikeouts in just 24.1 innings and is the best righty in the Mariners’ pen at this time. Don’t be fooled by his 4.44 ERA – a 3.24 FIP suggests that number will come down, and with a hot start he could entrench himself as Seattle’s closer.

3. Colby Rasmus, OF, TOR: Rasmus scorched the ball this week, going 10-for-28 (.357) with two homers, two steals and five RBI. The main scourge behind his .227/.298/.411 line remains a .260 BABIP. Owners who pick him up now likely won’t have to deal with that and can reap the benefits of hitter-friendly Rogers Centre as he heats up. He could be a sneakily cheap source of both power and steals.

4. Adam Wainwright, SP, STL: Wainwright followed up a shutout gem earlier in the week with a six inning, one run start Sunday against the Phillies, giving him just one run allowed in his last 15 innings. It’s time to buy on Wainwright. He’s seen his velocity tick up, particularly on his cutter, and that could indicate he’s returning to the form which had him competing for Cy Youngs in the latter part of the last decade.

5. Matt Moore, SP, TB: Moore’s 7 IP, 10 K, 2 ER start against the White Sox on Memorial Day was overshadowed by Chris Sale’s gem (and understandably so). But let’s not lose sight of the future ace — he now has four straight starts with at least six strikeouts and has allowed no more than three earned runs in each. He has a 30:10 K:BB ratio in those four starts (covering 22 innings) and looks like he might be turning a corner. Don’t get left behind.

5 DOWN

1. Derek Lowe, SP, CLE: Lowe was beat up in two starts this week, allowing 10 runs on 16 hits in 8.1 innings. Lowe struck out just five batters and has a swinging strike rate of just 4.6% on his career. What we saw last week is just what happens when a pitcher gives up as much contact as Lowe does – he allowed 16 hits, including a homer, and even his pristine control (just one walk) doesn’t always help with major league hitters in the batter’s box.

2. Michael Young, INF, TEX: Young has struggled mightily to open 2012, and another down week (.222/.236/.278 in 55 PA) has his overall line down to .282/.305/.379. His power is almost completely gone; he has just a .097 ISO, and at 36 there doesn’t seem to be much reason to believe it will come back. Young always seems to have fans somewhere, so a reasonable return could probably be had here, too.

3. Derek Jeter, SS, NYY: The Jeter cool-down has begun. The Captain is hitting just .250 in his last two weeks (12 games, 54 PA) despite a BABIP of .297 in that span. He’s certainly not worth giving up on – he’s probably a .280-.290 hitter with a very good run total at the end of the season – but if you can capitalize on his .338/.380/.465 start, do so and do so quickly.

4. Matt Capps, RP, MIN: Capps finally blew his first save of the season Sunday, giving up a two-run homer to Miguel Cabrera to lose the game for the Twins. The problem with Capps is that he just doesn’t miss bats any more – he has just a 4.5 K/9 and in many ways is the relief pitcher version of Lowe. He’s had exceptional control thus far, walking just one batter all year, but if he does lose track of the strike zone, it could fall apart very quickly in Minnesota for Capps.

5. Kirk Nieuwenhuis, OF, NYM: Nieuwenhuis was a darling early in the season as he put up a .325 average in April. May has not been so kind. The 25-year-old has just a .261 average in May, and he may not even sustain that going forward. He was 0-for-4 with a strikeout Sunday, his 53rd of the year in just 47 games. It’s almost impossible to maintain any sort of a reasonable batting average with a 30% strikeout rate or higher, and Nieuwenheis is now at 30.5% on the year. Expect him to be closer to .250 than his current .288 for the rest of the season.

Jack Moore is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with degrees in Mathematics and Economics. His work can also be found at FanGraphs.com, DisciplesOfUecker.com, RotoWire.com, AdvancedNFLStats.com and ESPN. Follow him on twitter at @jh_moore.

The 40-year-old goaltender, the team’s two big goal scorers and the new coach all have played major roles in getting the Devils back to the championship round just a year after they missed the playoffs for the first time since 1996.

The guy who tends to get lost in all the talk is Travis Zajac.

This was almost a lost season for the Devils’ No. 1 center. He tore an Achilles tendon in August, had surgery the next day and tried to come back in December. He lasted eight games before calling it quits.

Over the next two months, there were times he thought his season was over as the injury and soreness wouldn’t go away. The 27-year-old continued his rehab and eventually came back in late March. It took him a couple of weeks to find his game but one can argue he has been the best player for the Devils in the postseason, which will start its final round on Wednesday as the Los Angeles Kings visit New Jersey.

“He is the type of player who does a lot of things well, from the faceoff to the forcechecking, taking the body,” Brodeur said. “He does a lot of little things. A lot of people who are not watching him and who only look at the stats, miss a lot. He is an effective player. He logs a lot of important minutes. That’s what you have to look at, and who he plays against every single shift, and that tells you a lot about them.”

His statistics aren’t shabby either. Zajac has seven goals — tied for the team high with Kovalchuk and Parise — and five assists. His 12 points are tied for eighth best in the postseason. He also played on New Jersey’s power play and kills off penalties averaging more than 20 minutes a game, third highest among the teams’ forwards.

Not bad for player who appeared in 15 regular-season games.

“Getting this far I’m sure it’s enjoyable for everyone but it really is for me,” Zajac said after the Devils practiced Monday for the first time since winning the Eastern Conference finals against the New York Rangers on Friday night. “Playing this late in the season really makes me feel like I didn’t miss the whole season. It’s really a fun time to play hockey.”

Coming into this season, Zajac had been the Devils’ current iron man. He had played in 401 consecutive games for the team between 2006 and the end of the 2010-11 season only to get hurt working out at home before training camp.

If there has been a positive in terms of the injury, Zajac is fresh. While most of his teammates have played around 100 games, he has played in 33 and seemingly is rounding into midseason form.

Veteran forward Dainius Zubrus said Zajac’s return has been one of the keys to the Devils’ success.

Instead of gambling and making a deal for a top center at the trading deadline, general manager Lou Lamoriello stood pat and waited for Zajac to be ready.

“It took time, but the surprising thing for me is how well the guy can play after basically missing the whole year,” said Zubrus, who plays on Zajac’s right wing with Parise on the left. “He is playing top minutes, PP and PK, and all that stuff. You can’t get a player like that on deadline. When he got healthy it was a big addition.”

DeBoer said Zajac’s contributions are immeasurable.

“We wouldn’t be here without Travis,” said DeBoer, who was forced to use roughly 10 different centers this season in searching for replacement for Zajac. “The fact that we were able to fill … the hole he left is a credit to Patrik Elias, (Adam) Henrique and (Stephen) Gionta, and (others).”

“Looking back now in reflection, that was an awfully big hole,” DeBoer added.

In facing the Kings, the Devils will be taking on the NHL’s top team in the postseason. Los Angeles is 12-2 and it has barely been tested in knocking off the top three seeds in the Western Conference — Vancouver, St. Louis and Phoenix. In each series, Los Angeles won the first three games.

“They have big size up front, they check well and control the puck offensively, that’s been one of their strengths throughout the playoffs,” Zajac said. “They have some D-men who can make plays and jump up on offense.”

The Kings also play like the Devils. They roll four lines and have an outstanding goaltender in Jonathan Quick.

“There are similarities for sure, but every team at this point plays a similar style, they forecheck hard and the D keeps puck alive,” Zajac said. “I think every team that has been successful was similar structure.”

The Kings traveled on Monday to New Jersey. A media day for the teams is scheduled Tuesday.

Will Zajac and the Devils hoist the Cup? Make your prediction in the comments below!

(TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

MINNEAPOLIS (WCC0) – While most fans protect themselves from rain by a thin poncho, Target Field uses a little more sophisticated technology.

While water just runs off into the sewer system at most stadiums, Target Field employs the Rain Water Recycle System – designed by Minneapolis-based water solutions company Pentair.

Kevin Smith, Executive Director of Public Relations for the Twins, is proud of his stadium’s distinction.

“What better way to be a leader in sustainability and lead by example with using water as your example,” said Smith

When it rains, a porous field acts as the first line of defense. The first of the multiple layers is grass, the second is sand, and the third is rocks. Underneath it all is a complex drainage system that covers this entire field.

“You’ll go out there, half hour after a rain storm and it’s like it never happened,” said Smith.

And then the water takes its most interesting turn.

“What happens with that dirty water is then funneled through the Pentair filtration system, cleaned and cleaned…It goes from dark gray and gross, to being perfectly clean,” he said.

According to Smith, a large portion of the water is recycled in the ball park for watering the grass and cleaning the lower levels.

It’s not only a green solution, but one that allows the game to resume quickly.

“You’ll go out there half hour after a rain storm and it’s like it never happened,” he said.

Target Field has the first and only underground filtration system in America, saving more than 2 million gallons of water each year.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Minnesota is proudly known as the state of hockey, and on Memorial Day, some hockey-lovers honored a former player.

Sgt. Bryan McDonough died when his Humvee hit an IED in Iraq.

Before enlisting in the National Guard, he played hockey for Roseville High School. On Monday, Minnesota Warriors Ice Hockey inducted him into the Hall of Honor at the Vadnais Heights Sports Center.

The hall, which was inaugurated on Monday, recognizes local military members who died serving their country.

Warriors Ice Hockey is a club team for veterans who’ve suffered injuries while serving. The co-gender team is made up of all ages and abilities.

Nobody at Target Field was cheering louder at the end than his teammates.

Justin Morneau’s tying double in the eighth inning set up Capps for another dramatic save in the ninth, and the Twins rallied past Oakland for a 5-4 victory on Monday, a season-high sixth straight loss for the Athletics.

“There’s not a bigger competitor on this team than Capps, and no one wants to win more. There’s not a better teammate, either. When he has a game like this we’re all cheering for him, and when he has a game like yesterday we all feel for him,” said designated hitter Ryan Doumit, who drove in the go-ahead run off previously perfect reliever Ryan Cook (1-1) with a sacrifice fly after Morneau’s bloop down the line.

Capps bounced back from his first blown attempt of the season the day before — on a two-run homer by Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera — by striking out Jonny Gomes with the bases loaded to notch his 10th save and help the Twins stop their own five-game losing streak.

“I don’t blame people for booing. They expect us to do a job, and I’m no different from the 24 other guys in here,” Capps said.

Don’t assume he feels fine about that, though.

“I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t feel something. Nobody likes that, especially in their home ballpark,” Capps said, adding: “No matter what the fans think, this organization still expects it out of me, and I’ve got to go out and do it.”

Colin Cowgill reached on a fielding error by second baseman Alexi Casilla, who let a slow roller slide right under his glove to make the inning more challenging for Capps. Jemile Weeks walked with one out. The runners moved up on a line drive by Coco Crisp that Capps dropped but picked up and threw over for the second out. Josh Reddick, who homered and tripled earlier, was intentionally walked to load the bases.

But Capps blew a 94-mph fastball by Gomes to end that at-bat on three pitches.

“We feel comfortable with him on the mound. He’s a guy with guts,” Morneau said, adding about the booing: “It’s disappointing to see that sometimes, but obviously people’s expectations are high, just as ours are.”

Alex Burnett (2-0) gave up an RBI single to Kurt Suzuki in the eighth that put the A’s in front 4-3 after Jeff Gray walked back-to-back batters with one out, but Kila Ka’aihue grounded into a double play, the fourth of the game for the A’s. Then the Twins rallied with rare success against Cook (1-1), who entered the game without a run and just four hits allowed in 23 innings this year.

Joe Mauer hustled for an infield single and stole second base to spark the rally. Josh Willingham followed with a walk and scored on Doumit’s deep-enough fly.

“We definitely wanted to give him an ERA, I guess,” Willingham said.

Said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire: “Everybody should have stats, and he had none.”

Cook was naturally disappointed.

“You’re going to give up runs in this game. It isn’t a secret to anybody. It’s just unfortunate that I gave them up today,” he said.

Travis Blackley made his first major league start in nearly five years, giving up just one run, three hits and one walk while striking out three in five innings for the A’s. Trevor Plouffe homered in the fifth for the Twins, and Willingham’s double off Jordan Norberto in the sixth following back-to-back walks cut the lead to 3-2.

“For a guy that’s been a one-inning reliever here for the last couple of months, to give us five innings and leave with the lead was tremendous,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said.

Then Morneau tied the game with a sacrifice fly to keep starter Scott Diamond from taking the loss. The lefty struck out four with one walk, nine hits and three runs across in 6 1-3 innings.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

NEW BRIGHTON, Minn. (WCCO) — Many great athletes come from humble beginnings, but for his entire life, Mark Braun has been fighting to overcome obstacles. He was born with spinal bifida, a birth defect that left his legs upside down and crossed.

His biological parents left him for dead in the bottom of a garbage can in his home country of Jamaica. He was then adopted by a missionary and now is one of the premier wheelchair athletes in the country.

Braun was the star on three back to back national championships wheelchair basketball teams.

The expansion of wheelchair track and field in the Minnesota High School league has allowed Mark Braun to excel in yet another sport.

Irondale High School student Braun is the first male to compete in Minnesota track and field in a wheelchair. He currently holds state records in two of the three events wheelchair athletes can compete in.

“I’m just very excited that we’re allowed to be on the same track with able bodies, we’re allowed to race besides others who aren’t any different,” said Braun. “We may race with adaptions, we aren’t any different and we can do the same things.”

The Minnesota High School league began allowing wheelchair athletes to compete in track and field last year. Braun was the first male to take the challenge.

This year, the league expanded the number of events these athletes can compete in, and there are other changes. For the first time, Braun will compete side by side with athletes who don’t use a wheelchair.

Braun is an all-around athlete. He plays adaptive softball, floor hockey and soccer. He is also a three time national wheelchair basketball champion.

His bedroom, hallway and family room in his home are full of awards, medals and trophies. But it’s track and field that fills a need for camaraderie with the people he sees every day.

“You’re with your other friends, but you’re not with your high school friends and you’re with a program that’s just self-contained,” said Braun.

Braun says he’s glad his classmates are able to see him practice and compete just like the other athletes at school.

When he is on the track, Braun says there is nothing he cannot accomplish.

“If you believe in yourself, you’ll do great,” he said.

His school and state track records are proof of that.

“As a pioneer and to start something like this, you begin being alone and you build up support and you build up friends,” he said.

Braun has built a reputation as a fierce competitor, and his drive and determination set him apart from others.

Irondale track coach Tom Rodefeld says he is honored to have someone like Mark in the program.

“He is a team leader he leads with his character on and off the track,” said Rodefeld. “When he goes to our meets or away meets, it’s so fun to watch him the way he educates the other athletes about his events about himself about his sport in general.”

Braun says every athlete deserves to have the right to race, and he says he will fight for that even after he graduates from Irondale. For now he will keep on striving for inclusion — and, of course, gold medals.

“Each and every achievement has a story behind it, and I look at those stories as a memory to put in the memory book,” said Braun.

His mother Claire keeps good records on where Braun has been and where he’s headed.

“It’s really crucial that a child have a memory to kind of look back on, so if you have all these positive things you don’t have to dwell on the negative,” she said.

She has fostered more than 70 children, many with disabilites. She has adopted eight of them, including Mark. Claire keeps her son grounded and focused on what he can do, like following his dream of one day being an Olympian.

“My times qualify for the Paralympic standards,” said Braun. “So I’m hoping to go to London this summer in the 2012 Paralympic games with Team USA.”

Braun hopes to one day coach other athletes, both those who have the use of their legs as well as those who use a wheelchair to compete.

For teams having seasons like the Twins, it’s a time to start evaluating the roster for trade possibilities with which they can begin to restock with young talent. For teams having seasons like the Tigers, it’s a time to figure out why they’ve underachieved and what pieces need to be added in order to reach the lofty goals they’d set coming out of spring training.

But as we all know, Memorial Day is about a lot more than just baseball. Tracing its origins to the “Decoration Day” of the post-Civil War era, Memorial Day was established to honor the men and women who’ve lost their lives in the service of their country’s military. For many of us, it’s grown to become a holiday on which we honor the memory of all those who served, whether they died in service or not.

Baseball has a long tradition of honoring the men and women of the armed forces, including some of the men who’ve played the grand old game.

There are the famous names: Ted Williams served as a naval aviator in both WWII & the Korean War; Joe DiMaggio served in the Army Air Force during WWII; Johnny Pesky was an Ensign in the Navy; and Bob Feller enlisted in the Navy on December 12, 1941, the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Here in Minnesota, Ron Gardenhire was born to First Sergeant Clyde Gardenhire as he served on an Army base in Germany, and Hall of Famer Rod Carew — thankfully still with us — served in the Marine reserves for six years.

But go back a little further and you can find even more compelling stories with ties to the Washington Senators, who would go on to become the Minnesota Twins.

Elmer Gedeon was born in Cleveland in 1917. He went to the University of Michigan where he excelled at several sports, especially track. But baseball was his passion, and he signed with the Senators as an outfielder after graduating in 1939.

He joined the big club in September of that season, appearing in five games, collecting three hits, and knocking in one run. Little did he know that would be his only taste of the Major Leagues.

Gedeon spent the 1940 season knocking around the minors, and was expected to do so again in 1941, but was instead summoned to serve in the Army Air Corps.

In April of 1944, Elmer was the pilot of a B-26 Marauder which was one of 30 planes to leave Boreham Airfield in England to bomb German construction works at Bois d’Esquerdes. Gedeon’s plane never returned. As it reached the target, it was lit up by search lights and pummeled by enemy flak, including a fateful burst which struck just under the cockpit. Elmer, along with all but one member of his crew, was killed in the resulting crash.

Elmer Gedeon’s remains now reside amongst the heroes in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

Pitcher James Trimble never made it to the big leagues.

Born in Bethesda, Maryland, in 1926, he was a star athlete in high school. Trimble caught the eye of Senators owner Clark Griffith who invited him to a try out during his senior year in 1943. Griffith would have signed the right-handed hurler on the spot, but Trimble’s mother insisted that he finish high school first. So instead, Griffith gave him a $5000 signing bonus and the promise of a roster spot after he finished college at Duke University.

In early 1944, however, Trimble heard the call to serve and enlisted in the Marines. In July of that year, he joined the Third Marine Division in their action on Guam. In February of 1945, the Third Division left Guam for action on a small island 750 miles south of Tokyo, known as Iwo Jima.

As the Third Division landed, they came under heavy rocket fire from Japanese forces. Trimble was one of eight Marines who volunteered to search out and destroy the Japanese troops firing those rockets. As they rested in their foxholes, those Marines came under attack. A Japanese soldier with a mine strapped to his body, jumped into Trimble’s foxhole, detonating his ordinance and killing the private instantly.

Trimble now rests in Rock Creek cemetery in Washington, D.C.

Those are the stories of just two of 40 Senators major- and minor-leaguers who served in the armed forces in WWII. The annals of baseball history are filled with hundreds more stories of heroism and valor.

So it’s only appropriate that baseball, the Minnesota Twins, and all of us pause on this special holiday to tip our caps in remembrance of those who gave the “last full measure of devotion” so that we might be able to enjoy our freedom, the beginning of summer and the wonderful sport of baseball!

Minnesota set a team record with its 10th straight win dating to last season, including a sweep of the WNBA finals. In starting 4-0 for just the second time in team history, the Lynx have won seven consecutive regular-season games, two off their nine-game run last season.

Seimone Augustus, the league’s second-leading scorer entering the day at 22 points per game, added 10 points and six assists.

Ann Wauters finished with 13 points for Seattle, which fell to 0-3 for the first time since its inaugural season in 2000.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — It wasn’t the game of baseball being played at Target Field before today’s Twins Game. Instead, an 8-year-old from Lino Lakes with Leukemia asked if he could play video games. That wish – and much more — came true.

Fans at Target Field had a new player to root for Friday. The cameras weren’t there for Joe Mauer, but for Grant Albin.

“It definitely is a dream come true for him as far as what he went through and is continuing to have to deal with,” said Albin’s father, Rob.

That dream, started with a simple act.

“He wrote a letter to Joe Mauer. His wish was to play a video game with Joe,” said Rob.

With the help of the Make a wish foundation, Mauer wrote back.

“(He wrote) that he’d love to play video games with me,” said Grant.

As if it wasn’t enough to play with his hero, Grant played the video games with Mauer on Target Field’s 5800 square foot JumboTron.

“I think he may be a little overwhelmed with everything that’s going on,” said Mauer.

But Grant might need to get used to the attention, he plans to become a baseball player.

Grant is such a big baseball fan that his original wish was for all the baseball cards in the world, but his mom said their house wasn’t big enough. To see the entire letter, click here.

Team spokesman Kevin Smith said they had typical number of medical calls, but nothing out of the ordinary.

“Our operations department also put out the swamp coolers, which are big fans, like outdoor air conditioners, military-style, like they use in war zones. We had four of those out there,” said Smith.

NewsRadio 830 WCCO’s Susie Jones Reports

Smith said they also handed out sunscreen and had water stations set up.

“Our operations department did what they could to temper the heat,” he said.

Smith says they play Oakland Monday, when the temperatures will be about 30 degrees cooler.

But Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder have been steadily slugging them back, and the big guys sure had their swings in shape this series.

Cabrera’s two-run homer with one out in the ninth inning lifted the Tigers to a 4-3 victory over the Twins on Sunday, making up for 10 men left on base.

“I was having nightmares during that game, because we’re just leaving those guys on out there,” manager Jim Leyland said.

His afternoon had a happy ending. Cabrera crushed an 0-2 pitch to center field from Matt Capps (0-3), who took his first blown save in 10 tries, after rookie Quintin Berry started the inning with a single.

Capps threw an off-speed outside pitch to Cabrera on Friday night with a 0-2 count, and Cabrera singled to the opposite field. This time, the closer fired his fastball inside and watched Cabrera hit the ball over the wall.

“You’ve got to be ready for anything,” Cabrera said.

All-Star right-hander Justin Verlander hit a long home run during batting practice, so Leyland said he jokingly yelled at Cabrera to try to do the same during his dramatic at-bat.

“Boom. Next pitch,” Leyland said. “It was funny.”

Jose Valverde followed for his ninth save in 11 attempts. Denard Span led off with a single. After Ben Revere popped his bunt up for the first out, Joe Mauer hit a hard line out to left. Then after Span stole second, Josh Willingham walked. But Justin Morneau flied out to right.

Brayan Villarreal (1-1) recorded two outs in the eighth for the victory.

Fielder had two more hits and went 9 for 12 in the series plus two walks for the Tigers, who have won 21 of their last 27 games against the Twins. Cabrera raised his career average at Minnesota’s 2½-year-old ballpark to .408, including nine doubles, four homers and 18 RBIs.

“We’re here to win games, not here for personal numbers,” Cabrera said. “If you think about that, you put pressure on yourself.”

Said starter Rick Porcello: “A clutch home run like that, late in the game, to put us ahead: That’s why he’s our guy.”

Alexi Casilla went 3 for 3 for the Twins, including an RBI single against Porcello in the fourth. Mauer had two hits, tying the game at 2 with a double in the fifth. Willingham singled him in to give the Twins the lead.

Porcello lasted six innings, allowing nine hits, three runs and three walks with only one strikeout. He hasn’t won in four starts, but this was a much better performance. He took a sharp drive by Mauer off his leg but managed to stay on his feet and throw for the out before hobbling around in pain in the third.

“That’s all I’m looking to come out there and do: Keep us in the game and try to pitch as deep as I can. In that way, it was a good outing,” Porcello said. “Obviously I’ve got to continue to work on putting it all together, but it’s a good win for us.”

Twins starter P.J. Walters gave up seven hits and four walks, both highs over four appearances since being brought up from Triple-A less than three weeks ago. But he finished six innings with only two first-inning runs allowed and struck out four.

After a ray-of-hope, four-game winning streak on the road that included a two-game sweep of the Tigers in Detroit, the Twins have lost five in a row.

“One of those losses that knocks the wind out of your sails,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.

WCCO Radio Audio:
Ron Gardenhie Post-Game Press Conference

NOTES: Berry, who made his major league debut earlier this week when CF Austin Jackson strained an abdominal muscle, has at least one hit in each of his five games. He’s 8 for 21. … The Twins start a three-game series with Oakland on Monday in a holiday matinee. LH Scott Diamond (3-1, 1.78 ERA) takes the mound for the Twins, and LH Travis Blackley (0-0, 0.00) will make his first start of the season for the A’s. … The Tigers send RH Doug Fister (0-2, 1.84) to the mound on Monday in Boston. LH Felix Doubront (4-2, 3.96) starts for the Red Sox. … The Twins had two moving moments on the field before the game. Mauer hosted an 8-year-old boy named Grant with leukemia as part of the Make-A-Wish program, competing with him in the video game “MLB 11: The Show” with the action shown on the scoreboard above left field. Then Robert Buresh, a Minnesota Air National Guard master sergeant just returned from Afghanistan, surprised his daughters in front of home plate as they ran around the bases in a promotional contest.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Five appointed members will make up the new Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, holding sway over the massive public investment at the downtown Minneapolis site of the Metrodome. Gov. Mark Dayton and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak have until mid-June to name the members, in a decision Dayton described last week as “the first and very important responsibility” in turning the stadium deal into a 65,000-seat reality.

Dayton will name the chairman and two members, and Rybak appoints the other two.

The posts are not likely to be high-profile. But the members have an important role in representing the public’s interest in a construction project with a $498 million taxpayer investment.

“These commissioners are not employees of the Vikings — they’re employees of the people of Minnesota,” said John Wade, a Rochester business leader who served as one of former Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s appointees to the Minnesota Ballpark Authority that oversaw Target Field construction.

Ballpark Authority Chairman Steve Cramer, who guided Target Field from a law on paper to a functioning facility at the other end of downtown Minneapolis, said the new authority’s power to approve construction spending gives it the last word if disputes arise. In the Twins’ case, the team managed construction but no bills were paid without the authority signing off.

“We had the ability to stop the thing in its tracks,” Cramer said.

Cramer, a Minneapolis-based housing developer, said the ballpark group never blocked a payment but its power to do so led to “many, many hard conversations about what’s going on here to avoid being in that position.”

For instance, Cramer said one snag in the $545 million Target Field project was the unexpected $3 million to $4 million extra to fulfill the Legislature’s intent to build the stadium in an environmentally sustainable fashion.

“In the context of a half-billion-dollar project, it seems like not much. But when you’re at the negotiating table and everybody’s saying, ‘We put $230 million in.’ ‘Oh yeah? Well, we put $130 million in.’ And three or four million turns out to be a big issue,” Cramer said.

Eventually the authority came up with an extra $1.5 million and the team added some more to conform to a set of environmental standards. Cramer said the Twins ended up spending more than $50 million above their original commitment of $130 million to cover extra costs including land acquisition and construction upgrades.

The Vikings stadium cleared its last political hurdle Friday with Minneapolis City Council approval. Dayton and Rybak, both Democrats, drove the deal to completion. Now they will shape, through their appointments, how the stadium is built and run.

Former state Rep. Barb Sykora, who serves on the ballpark authority, urged Dayton to look to greater Minnesota as he selects members for the Vikings authority. Sykora, a Republican from Excelsior, said she is the only suburbanite overseeing Target Field after Dayton replaced Pawlenty’s two appointees; the other members live in Minneapolis or St. Paul.

“The Vikings are really very much a statewide team,” Sykora said. “People watch them from all over.”

Members of the new authority can see the Vikings’ finances but are required by law to keep it private. The new entity will absorb the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, which will be abolished.

Dayton appointee Ted Mondale heads the commission and has served as the governor’s top aide on the stadium issue.

The authority will deal with a huge construction project involving architects, contractors, utilities, a light-rail line, city streets and other partners.

The law allows the group to decide whether to oversee design and construction or let the team do so. If the team takes over, the authority is prohibited from covering cost overruns. If the authority runs the project, it’s required to find a construction team that will cover overruns. The law also caps the public contribution to construction at $348 million for the state and $150 million for the city.

The money comes from state taxes on new electronic pull-tab and bingo gambling in bars and redirecting city taxes originally imposed to pay off the Minneapolis Convention Center. The team will bring $477 million in private money, including proceeds from the sale of stadium naming rights and an anticipated NFL contribution.

Sen. Julie Rosen, a Republican from Fairmont who sponsored the stadium bill, said the authority would have to move quickly to open the stadium by 2016.

“It’s game on,” she said. “They have to get to work.”

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Manship joined the team in time for Sunday’s game against the Detroit Tigers. The Twins designed reserve outfielder Erik Komatsu for release or assignment to make room on the roster.

Manship is the eighth player summoned from Rochester already this season, seven of whom weren’t with the Twins on opening day. Manship was 4-1 with a 3.08 ERA, 15 walks and 25 strikeouts in 38 innings for the Red Wings. He made 12 appearances, including four starts.

“We need pitching. Our bullpen’s depleted, and we have to protect ourselves,” manager Ron Gardenhire said before the game.

Manship will be available as a long reliever, but Gardenhire said he “won’t say never” when asked whether the 27-year-old will be considered for the rotation. The group currently comprises veteran Carl Pavano, Rochester call-ups Scott Diamond, P.J. Walters and Cole De Vries plus struggling left-hander Francisco Liriano.

Twins starters had an unsightly 6.60 ERA entering Sunday’s game, the worst in the majors and more than a full run higher than the next-closest team. Liriano was removed from the rotation earlier this month but will start again Wednesday, essentially because the Twins have no other options. Pavano has been bothered by a sore right shoulder. Nick Blackburn is on a rehabilitation assignment for a full week before he will return from a strained left quadriceps muscle.

Komatsu was claimed off waivers earlier this month. He played in 15 games but had only 32 at-bats, collecting seven hits and driving in one run. He’s the second reserve outfielder the Twins added via the waiver wire and gave up on after a few weeks. Clete Thomas was the first.

Damon Mastroianni, another little-used backup outfielder, survived the cut despite even less production in his limited action. Gardenhire said the Twins want to keep Mastroianni for his versatility and pinch-running ability.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

And his mother Judy is quite a mom. Trent is leaving a robust college basketball career and moving back to play for a team to closer to home for all the right reasons.

When Trent was three, his family found out that their father, Ted, had leukemia. He died within a year, leaving his mother Judy a single parent.

“How she made it through that, I don’t know,” said Trent.

Trent would grow into quite a basketball player, a part of arguably the greatest high school team in the state at Hopkins.

“Looking back at it, you kinda don’t realize what you’re apart of when you’re in it,” he said.

Next stop was Arizona State, where Trent thrived as one of the best players on the team.

But this past season, he got a call from his mother that would change their lives.

Judy was diagnosed with a form of lymphoma.

“She called me and she let me know. It definitely changed my perspective on a couple different things, and it’s unfortunate, but I know we’re gonna make it through it. She’s a strong woman,” he said.

The game plan for Trent and his mother was now to make every day count. It started with Trent graduating in just three years from college – a rare feat for anyone, particularly a student athlete.

He then decided to transfer to Marquette to be closer to home, and to his mom.

“I can drive to Milwaukee, and I’ve discovered this Megabus I can go for, you know, I can just ride in peace, and it costs me $35 round trip,” said Judy Lockett.
This next year is sure to be filled with priceless mother and son moments.

“It puts things into perspective. I’m not gonna live for as long as I thought I was going to, most likely, so let’s take advantage of all the time there is, every moment there is,” she said.

As they ponder the future, Judy can’t help but think what Trent’s father would have thought – to see what has son has become.

“He would be so proud, he would be so proud. I keep in touch with his friends, they’re like ‘I know he’s up there talking smack about his son, Trent,’” Judy said.

And if he could speak to his father, what would Trent say about his mother?

“He picked a good lady, that’s for sure. He picked the right one,” said Trent.

Trent’s sister, Courtney, is a senior at Hopkins High School. She’s accepted a volleyball scholarship at Duquesne University next fall.

Desperate for some stability in his starting five, manager Ron Gardenhire announced on Saturday that Liriano would return to the rotation for a start against the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday. He simply doesn’t have any other options.

Carl Pavano became the latest Twins starter to make an early exit, lasting just 4 1/3 innings in a 6-3 loss to the Detroit Tigers.

Pavano (2-4) gave up six runs on 10 hits with two strikeouts, and the Twins bullpen was taxed heavily again.

“I don’t think it’s been about run production for us,” Gardenhire said after they lost their fourth straight game. “I think it’s about pitching and getting behind in games and it limiting what you can do. We have to do better with our pitching. We all know that.”

Ideally, that’s where Liriano comes in. The left-hander has the most electric stuff on the staff, but has been unable to harness it for the better part of two years. He was moved to the bullpen on May 9 after starting the season 0-4 with a 9.45 ERA.

Liriano made five relief appearances, allowing four earned runs in 7 1/3 innings.

“I’m looking forward to starting. I’ve always been a starter and that’s what I want to do,” said Liriano, who will become a free agent after this season. “I’m very happy and just looking forward to trying to do my job, get better and everything.”

Justin Morneau and Denard Span homered for the Twins, but they squandered a chance to get back in the game after a 42-minute rain delay in the sixth inning. The game resumed with runners on the corners and one out, and Tigers starter Max Scherzer out of the game.

Josh Willingham struck out for the third time in the game and Morneau popped out to third base to end the inning.

Willingham had four of the team’s 16 strikeouts in the game. The bottom four in the order — Brian Dozier, Alexi Casilla, Drew Butera and Jamey Carroll — went 1 for 14 with 10 strikeouts.

The Tigers jumped on Pavano in the first, getting an RBI-double from Miguel Cabrera and an RBI-single from Prince Fielder to take a quick 2-0 lead. The veteran right-hander, who has been pitching through some soreness in his shoulder, seemed to steady himself in the next three innings, allowing only one hit.

But the powerful Tigers put together six straight hits during their four-run fifth, with Andy Dirks delivering a two-run double and Cabrera an RBI-single to make it 6-2.

In his last four starts, Pavano is 0-2 with a 7.08 ERA.

“Regardless (of) what I’m dealing with physically, I know I can pitch better than I am and I need to do that,” Pavano. “This is a game where they needed me to step up and shut them down and keep the bullpen out of it as much as I could and I wasn’t able to do that.”

The injuries and ineffectiveness have forced Gardenhire to use nine starting pitchers this season, and the group had an ERA of 6.49 when the day began, by far the worst in the majors. Anthony Swarzak has bounced back and forth between long relief and a starting, and was tagged for six earned runs in 3 2/3 innings Friday night, leaving Gardenhire with little choice other than to give Liriano another shot.

“We can’t just keep bouncing around from guy to guy to guy to guy,” Gardenhire said. “We just need Frankie. We said we were going to give him a few shots out of the bullpen, let him calm down a little bit. Now we’ll put him back out there and see if we got that pitcher going.”

Liriano said he’s ready for the challenge.

“Mentally and physically, I’m fine,” Liriano said. “I’ve always stayed positive. I didn’t lose my confidence at all. Just looking for ways to do my job and get better.”

If Liriano can get going, it could help the Twins in two ways. First, they need him to harness his talent, which can be overpowering at times, to give them a reliable starter every fifth day. If he can do that, his trade value also would increase as the season wears on and contenders look to add pitching to get them over the hump.

“He’s healthy. We know that,” Gardenhire said. “It’s all we can hope for is him to go out there. We’re running through the gamut here of pitching. We need Liriano in the rotation. We need that arm in the rotation.”

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Scherzer (4-3) gave up three runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings before leaving due to a rain delay and Andy Dirks had two doubles and two RBIs for the Tigers. Miguel Cabrera added two hits and two RBIs and Jose Valverde picked up his eighth save in 10 chances.

Carl Pavano (2-4) allowed six runs on 10 hits in 4 1-3 innings for the Twins, who have lost four straight. Justin Morneau and Denard Span homered for Minnesota, but the Twins struck out 16 times.

Slumping Twins slugger Josh Willingham struck out four times and the bottom four hitters in the lineup — Brian Dozier, Alexi Casilla, Drew Butera and Jamey Carroll — went 1 for 14 with 10 strikeouts.

Most of those strikeouts came courtesy of Scherzer, who is looking more and more like the capable sidekick to Justin Verlander he was last year. He fanned four in a row and five of six at one point in the outing, and set down 13 straight after giving up a solo homer to Morneau in the second inning.

The right-hander gave up seven runs in 2 2-3 innings in his first start of the season and has been trying to dig out of that hole ever since. He was tagged for five runs in a win over the White Sox on May 15, but has chewed up two struggling offenses in his last two starts.

Scherzer struck out 15 in a win over the Pirates last week, the most by a Tigers pitcher since Mickey Lolich in 1972. He fanned nine more on Saturday, getting Dozier and Butera twice each before a couple of hits, and a lot of rain, brought an end to his day in the sixth inning.

The game started 20 minutes behind schedule because of weather, and was delayed another 42 minutes in the sixth inning when a heavy downpour pelted Target Field.

Octavio Dotel took the mound after the delay and wiggled out of a runners-on-the-corners, one-out jam by striking out Willingham and getting Morneau to pop out to third base.

The Tigers jumped on Pavano in the first, getting an RBI double from Cabrera and an RBI single from Fielder to take a quick 2-0 lead. The veteran right-hander, who has been pitching through some soreness in his shoulder, seemed to steady himself in the next three innings, allowing only one hit.

But the powerful Tigers put together six straight hits during their four-run fifth, with Dirks delivering a two-run double and Cabrera an RBI single to make it 6-2.

Span homered in the sixth, and the Twins had the tying runner at the plate with one out in the eighth. But Joaquin Benoit struck out Joe Mauer and Willingham to keep the Tigers comfortably in front.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The memory of missing the playoffs for first time since 1996 and the ghost of an 18-year-old wound were wiped out with a sweep of rookie Adam Henrique’s stick.

The New Jersey Devils are going back to the Stanley Cup finals, thanks to Henrique, a 40-year-old goaltender and a coach who’d never been to the postseason in the NHL.

How’s that for a turnaround?

Henrique scored off a wild scramble in front at 1:03 into overtime and the Devils defeated the rival New York Rangers, 3-2, in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals to advance to their first Stanley Cup finals since 2003.

“It means a lot,” Devils leading scorer Ilya Kovalchuk said minutes after reaching the Cup finals for the first time. “It’s a great feeling. Last year was a tough one, but this year was totally different. We played well all year. The first round of the playoffs was a little tough but after that, I think we figured out our game and what it takes to win.”

After beating Florida, Philadelphia and their biggest rivals, the Rangers, only the Los Angeles Kings stand in the way of a fourth Cup for New Jersey.

The title round begins here Wednesday.

This series win came against the Devils’ most intense rival, and it was that much sweeter.

“That one was like Christmas,” said Henrique, who also scored the series winner in overtime as Devils’ first-round, Game 7 win over the Panthers.

It also was needed. The Devils blew a 2-0 first-period lead and didn’t want to head back to New York for a Game 7 on Sunday.

“It didn’t matter how it got to overtime, we were in a good position,” Devils captain Zach Parise said. “We were at home. We just needed one shot.”

Actually, the Devils needed four shots to win the game.

Henrique’s winner came after Henrik Lundqvist stopped Kovalchuk twice and Alexei Ponikarovsky. The last shot lay in the crease and Henrique tapped it home.

“We caught them on a line change and their defensemen were tired,” said Devils coach Peter DeBoer, who was fired by Florida after missing the playoffs in his three seasons. “We found a way to jam one in. That’s the only way you’re going to score on Lundqvist. You’re not going to get a clean one. You’re going to have to work for it around the net.

“And that’s what we did.”

Ryan Carter and Kovalchuk also scored for the Devils, whose biggest move this year was hiring DeBoer. He has more than proved his coaching ability.

Ruslan Fedotenko and Ryan Callahan tallied for top-seeded New York, which had a good flurry just before New Jersey scored to end it.

Henrique, who is nominated for the Calder Trophy — given to the NHL’s top rookie — skated away from the crease and jumped against the end boards in the corner as his teammates hopped off the bench and mobbed him.

The six Rangers on the ice just stayed down in disbelief and frustration. This was very much like Game 5, which the Devils won 5-3. New York carried the play after the first period and had a 35-29 edge in shots.

But when it came time for a game-deciding play to be made, it was a Devil who made it.

“When they scored, it was such an empty feeling,” said Lundqvist, who said the puck took a weird bounce on the final play. “It is shocking.”

Henrique overcame injury to score this one. He seemed to take a stick from Brian Boyle in the groin area late in the third and had to leave the ice.

He felt no pain after the game winner.

All the Rangers could do was bow their heads and then line up for the traditional handshake after losing to their cross-rival rivals in a series that was close.

“That’s playoff hockey, and that’s usually where you get an overtime goal,” Rangers veteran Brandon Prust said. “Just whacking away in front of the net, getting rebounds.”

Martin Brodeur, 40, kept the Devils alive in the third. He stopped a power-play shot by Brad Richards, made a save on Artem Anisimov between the circles and used his stick to deflect a pass from the boards by Carl Hagelin in the final minute just before it got to Marian Gaborik on the edge of the crease.

“You could tell he was in the zone. He led us,” Parise said. “He made some big saves tonight.”

Lundqvist’s best stop in the third was on Dainius Zubrus on a shot from behind the circles.

Facing elimination and down 2-0 after 20 minutes, the Rangers found their game in the second period and tied the game at 2-all on goals by Fedotenko and Callahan in a roughly four-minute span.

Defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who assisted on both goals, made the big play to get New York back in the game. He collected the puck above the left circle, skated around the net and tried a wrap around. The shot didn’t go on goal but it turned out to be a perfect pass to Fedotenko who a tap-in into an open net at 9:47.

Callahan, who had a New York goal go off his leg in the Devils’ 5-3 win on Wednesday, tied the game at 13:41 when Dan Girardi’s shot from the right point deflected off his leg into the open lower corner of the net. Callahan’s sixth of the postseason was set up when Brandon Dubinsky won a faceoff in the left circle.

Carter, who scored the game winner in New York on Wednesday night after the Devils blew a 3-0 lead, put New Jersey ahead again at 10:05 of the opening period.

The play started with a bad pinch at the point by Rangers defenseman Marc Staal. Steve Bernier led a 3-on-1 and found Stephen Gionta coming down the middle for a solo chance against Lundqvist. The Rangers goaltender stopped the shot, but Carter swatted the rebound home for his fourth of the playoffs.

Kovalchuk’s seventh goal of the postseason and fifth on the power play was a thing of beauty. All five Devils skaters touched the puck with tape-to-tape passes with Zubrus finding Kovalchuk alone low in the left circle for a shot that Lundqvist had little chance to stop.

The Devils — as is the tradition for many Cup finalists — did not touch the Prince of Wales Trophy that was presented at center ice. As the team skated off to their locker room, “Glory Days,” the 1984 hit from New Jersey rocker Bruce Springsteen serenaded them.

The game was played on the 18-year anniversary of the Rangers’ dramatic, 4-2, Game 6 victory over New Jersey at the Meadowlands, a victory that pushed that classic Eastern Conference final series to a Game 7 and eventually led New York to its first Stanley Cup in 54 years. That game, of course, was preceded by a guarantee from Rangers captain Mark Messier, who delivered three goals en route to the victory.

This time, though, there will be no Game 7.

NOTES: The Empire State Building’s tower lights were lit in red and blue on Friday to cheer on the Rangers. … Mogul and TV personality Donald Trump was at the game. … Devils C Travis Zajac left the ice briefly in the second after being slashed on the left hand by Prust. No penalty was called. … New Jersey is 4-1 in overtime in the postseason. New York finished 2-3 after regulation.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Francisco Liriano is getting another shot in the Minnesota Twins’ muddled starting rotation.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire announced Saturday that the left-hander is moving out of the bullpen and will start Wednesday against Oakland. Liriano was demoted to the bullpen May 9 after going 0-5 with a 9.45 ERA in six starts.

The Twins are hoping Liriano’s time in the bullpen helped him to clear his head. They need the lefty in the rotation to take the place of Anthony Swarzak, who gave up six runs in 3 2-3 innings Friday night against Detroit.

Liriano says he feels good mentally and physically and is eager to be a starter again. He allowed four earned runs in 7 1-3 innings during five relief appearances.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Alex Avila drove in three runs on two doubles, Drew Smyly (2-1) gave up four runs — three earned — on six hits in five innings and Brennan Boesch added three hits and two RBIs for the Tigers, who bounced back from a three-game sweep at the hands of AL Central-leading Cleveland.

Denard Span had three hits for the Twins, who got another poor outing from their starting pitcher. Anthony Swarzak (0-4) gave up six runs on nine hits in 3 2-3 innings in his first start since April 19.

Delmon Young had three hits and an RBI against his former team and the Tigers pounded out 16 hits.

One of the busiest men on the field was first base umpire Alan Porter, who had several bang-bang plays at the bag throughout the game.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland and Twins manager Ron Gardenhire both argued with him early in the game, and Porter tossed Twins third baseman Jamey Carroll in the eighth after calling him out on a close play. Gardenhire came out to defend Carroll and got ejected himself, and the manager tossed his hat as he left the field.

Ron Gardenhire Interview

Jamey Carroll Interview

After signing Fielder to a nine-year, $214 million deal in the offseason, offense figured to be the least of the Tigers’ problems in 2012. But they entered the day just 17th in the majors in runs scored and managed just six runs total in being swept by the Indians.

Avila entered hitting .225, Young was hitting .248 with just two homers, and Fielder was at a pedestrian .286 with seven homers.

Leyland said before the game that he was up late on Thursday night trying to think of ways he could shuffle the lineup to give his team a spark before coming to a realization.

“Why am I busting my brain to figure out who I can juggle or put in there?” Leyland said. “That’s really not the answer. This lineup is our team. This is who we’re going with.”

The faith in his team paid off on Friday night.

Fielder and Young led off the second with singles and Boesch and Avila delivered RBI doubles in Detroit’s four-run second inning.

The pair came through again in the fourth, with Boesch leading off with a double and Avila doubling him home for a 5-2 lead. Ryan Raburn added an RBI-single to make it 6-2 and chase Swarzak.

Fielder’s double in the fifth off of lefty Francisco Liriano made it 7-2, but nothing has come easy for the Tigers this season and it certainly wasn’t going to start at Target Field.

The Tigers’ poor defense struck again in the first, when shortstop Jhonny Peralta’s throw pulled Fielder off the bag to prevent what should have been a routine double play. Brian Dozier followed with a bases-loaded double to get the Twins on the board 2-0.

The sixth inning was even worse. Right-hander Brayan Villarreal had two throwing errors, one that squandered a double play chance and another that allowed Trevor Plouffe to move into scoring position. He scored on a single to center by Carroll to make it 7-5, but only after Quintin Berry’s throw home hit the pitching mound.

But the Tigers put up three more in the seventh, with Fielder delivering an RBI single and Young coming through with an RBI-double to help pad the lead to 10-5.

NOTES: Leyland said OF Austin Jackson (abdominal strain) had an MRI that came back clean and he could accompany the team to Boston next week. Jackson likely would do some baseball activities during the four-game series to ramp up for a possible activation on June 1 for the Yankees series. … Miguel Cabrera stole his second base of the season in the fifth. … Carl Pavano (2-3, 4.91) takes the mound for the Twins on Saturday against Max Scherzer (3-3, 5.79). Pavano has been pitching through some discomfort in his shoulder, but said it’s been feeling better of late. Scherzer got off to a dreadful start this season, but struck out 15 in his last outing, a win over Pittsburgh.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Minneapolis Washburn has quite a story to tell. The Millers are unbeaten, and they’ve won all their games without the home field advantage.

Watching the team play looks like watching any another high school baseball game, and, for the most part, it is.

But Washburn is a special team that’s had an unusual season: they’re undefeated.

Zach Austin, an outfielder, said some of the team’s success comes from the fact that many on the team have been playing together for a few years.

“We’ve got a lot of guys who’ve played for our varsity team the last couple of years,” he said. “Now we’re all seniors, juniors – we’re doing good.”

What makes the season special is that the Millers have had so much success without a home field.

Pearl Park is being renovated, so the Millers are making due…and making hey.

But coach Jim Clancy said playing without Pearl Park hasn’t been easy.

“We’ve been in places, using a softball field to practice,” he said. “It’s been a scramble.”

And maybe it’s that attitude of adaptability that makes the team truly unique. In fact, some players find the change in practice venues kind of fun.

“We get to play at a bunch of different fields,” said Josh Pierce, a pitcher.

However, Pierce also thinks that having a field to play on regularly would be nice.

What Washburn has figured out is that their love for the game, which started at a young age, has made for some magic — no matter where they play.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A decade-long battle for a new Vikings stadium ended with a 7-6 vote on Friday, the same split as approved the plan in subcommittee form on Thursday afternoon.

The full City Council voted on whether to pay $150 million in construction costs to help build the nearly $1 billion stadium. The city would have another $159 million in operating costs later on.

The stadium deal was signed by Gov. Mark Dayton earlier this month. Dayton thanked some of the members of the City Council on Friday in a statement:

“I want to thank the seven members of the Minneapolis City Council who voted to approve the People’s Stadium. Their vote is a testament to Mayor RT Rybak and Council President Barb Johnson who have shown the vision and courage to lead Minneapolis in putting together a stadium plan that is best for Minneapolis and Minnesota.”

The Vikings will pay $477 million and the state will pick up the rest of the bill through gambling revenue.

The stadium deal is one of the largest capital investments in the city’s history. The plan is to redirect hospitality taxes from the convention center to pay the city’s share of the stadium.

In Thursday’s meeting, people in hard hats and Vikings gear sat side by side. Some say the stadium deal is a lifeline to jobs in a construction industry during a time of massive unemployment.

“There is a strong link between them, between the things we like to do for fun and the jobs we get to support our families,” said City Council member Don Samuels. “And this is the link right here. We are making that connection today. And it costs us something, but it’s worth it.”

Lisa Goodman was one of several opponents who argued the stadium is not a good investment, but a bad one with no public referendum and no evidence of economic benefit.

“I do not want to be part of the DFL party for sure after what happened at the legislature … a group of people in the city who have pushed forward the largest public subsidy in the state and city’s history,” said Goodman.

De Aza capped a six-run sixth with a grand slam after Paul Konerko and Alex Rios started the inning with back-to-back homers, leading the Chicago White Sox to an 11-8 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night.

A.J. Pierzynski and Dayan Viciedo also went deep as the White Sox won for the sixth time in seven games.

“It’s one night, but just the way they’re swinging it, you could see it sort of coming over the weekend,” manager Robin Ventura said. “Just the intensity and the quality of at-bats that we were having, that’s the thing that keeps it going is everyone continues to do that and grind out at-bats. That’s what they were doing tonight. They were late in the counts and still putting on good swings.”

Konerko had two hits and drove in two runs. Rios also had two hits and knocked in three, and Chicago pulled this one out even though Philip Humber couldn’t protect an early 4-1 lead.

The Twins knocked him out during a four-run fifth, sending 10 batters to the plate. Joe Mauer homered in the inning and Brian Dozier capped the rally with a two-run single to give Minnesota a 5-4 lead, but the debuting Cole De Vries couldn’t hold it.

Konerko and Rios chased him with back-to-back homers to left leading off the sixth, putting Chicago back on top, and the White Sox kept pouring it on from there.

They loaded the bases with one out against Brian Duensing before De Aza, who had an earlier homer wiped out by instant replay, drove a 1-0 pitch over the right-field bullpen to make it 10-5. The grand slam was the first of his career and the first by the White Sox since Rios hit one against Cleveland on Sept. 10, 2011.

“I was trying to get a fly ball because it was bases loaded,” De Aza said. “And the fly ball got big, you know.”

The big rally made a winner of Nate Jones (2-0), who allowed two hits over 1 2-3 innings. He came in for Humber in the fifth and immediately gave up that two-run single by Dozier, but the White Sox came out on top, anyway.

They had their way with De Vries (0-1), who grew up near Minneapolis and played for the University of Minnesota.

“I was pretty good in the bullpen,” he said. “I got out there and it was like someone flipped the light switch and the butterflies started going a little bit. After that, it dropped, then went back up. It was a rollercoaster night.”

The 27-year-old right-hander gave up six runs — three earned — and six hits.

He was shaky right from the start. Pierzynski drove a solo homer off the right-field pole in the second and the White Sox added to their lead in the third after Alexi Casilla booted De Aza’s grounder to second with one out. Konerko extended his hitting streak to 10 with an RBI single, and Rios added a two-run double to make it 4-1.

But what looked like an easy evening took a difficult turn. Humber still hasn’t won since his perfect game against Seattle on April 21 and the right-hander is 0-2 in his last six starts after allowing five runs and six hits in 4 1-3 innings.

“I haven’t felt like I’ve really been in sync probably for awhile now,” he said.

Humber said he’s not finishing his pitches. But the question is: Why?

“I’ve got to figure out what’s going on,” he said. “There’s a lot of feel that goes on as a pitcher.”

NOTES: Justin Morneau hit two late homers for Minnesota — a leadoff homer against Will Ohman in the seventh and a two-run drive against Addison Reed in the ninth. … Throwing off the mound and from the stretch, Snoop Dogg delivered the first pitch. The rapper was in the area for a concert. … Asked his favorite Snoop song, Ventura said, “I don’t know. They’re always X-ed out. All the words are X-ed out, so I don’t know. I don’t know how to read those.” … The Twins held Ryan Doumit (right calf) out of the lineup so Mauer could serve as the DH. Doumit is not ready to play the field yet. “He felt it a little bit last night, he’s been legging out some doubles,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. “I told him to take it easy, but you always know once you get playing in a game and you see something, you’re going to go for it. He was a little bit stiffer last night after the game. I backed him off today.” Gardenhire said he wants to see Doumit catch some bullpen sessions and run the bases before using him in the field.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Seimone Augustus scored 25 points to rally the Lynx (3-0) from nine points down in the second half in a 92-84 victory over the Sparks on Thursday night. Rebekkah Brunson scored 17 points, Lindsay Whalen had 14 and Maya Moore added 11.

“Any home win is a great one, and in the fashion we did it, I was really happy we were able to figure it out,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said. “We had some really tough moments earlier and were doing some things that were out of character. L.A. really came at us and made it difficult for us.”

Augustus, who shot 11 for 17 from the field, scored six points in the final 4:17 and Candice Wiggins’ tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2:19 remaining put Minnesota ahead for good.

The Lynx closed with a 10-2 run after the Kristi Toliver’s 3-pointer for Los Angeles tied the score at 82-all with 2:47 to go.

“I felt like we played 36 minutes,” the Sparks’ Candace Parker said. “We were up on them for 36 minutes, and then the last four minutes killed us.”

Toliver and Parker scored 23 points each to lead the Sparks (2-1) and rookie Nnemkadi Ogwumike added a season-high 20 points and nine rebounds.

The Lynx were played by turnovers in the first half, committing 13 that led to 11 points for the Sparks.

“It’s uncharacteristic of us to have that many turnovers in the first half of a game,” Augustus said. “I think we were just trying to make the home run play. We had a lot of players running and we wanted to get it there. It wasn’t necessarily panning out for us.”

Parker’s layup with 3.9 seconds to go in the first half gave the Sparks a 47-44 lead at the break. Ogwumike made two free throws in the opening minute of the third quarter and Parker hit a jumper to put Los Angeles up seven.

Whalen’s layup with 6 1/2 minutes left in the third capped the Lynx’s 8-2 run to pull to 53-52. However, the Sparks scored the next eight points, to stretch their lead to 61-52 with 4:53 to go in the quarter.

Minnesota had a 6-0 run, capped by Whalen’s jumper with 9:05 remaining in the fourth to tie the score at 70. Neither team led by more than two points until Moore’s jumper with 3:15 left put the Lynx ahead 82-79.

“The Lynx took that fourth quarter over,” said Sparks coach Carol Ross, who was an assistant with Atlanta last season when the Dream were swept by Minnesota in the WNBA finals. “Some of it was fatigue on our part. We’re a little short-handed in some spots. But good teams find ways to win, and I thought Minnesota did a great job of hanging around and fighting through adversity.”

After winning their first two games by an average of 20 points, the Lynx looked poised for another rout early, scoring the game’s first seven points before the Sparks chipped their way back. Parker had eight points in the first quarter as the Sparks tied the score at 17 with 3:40 to go in the period.

However, Minnesota closed the quarter on a 13-2 run to take a 30-19 lead. The Lynx struggled in the second quarter, though, shooting 5 for 16 and committing nine turnovers.

“We were able to stick together after a second quarter where we didn’t play our best,” said Whalen. “Everybody was able to stick together and make a contribution when they needed to, and I think anytime you have that, it’s a really good sign.”

Parker scored 17 points and Tolliver had 14 to help Los Angeles take its three-point lead at the break.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The last Minnesota high school player taken in the first round of the major league draft was Joe Mauer in 2001. That streak might be snapped this year if Rochester pitcher Mitch Brown is projected as a late first round pick in next month’s draft.

Brown is making his pitch as one of the top high school pitchers in the country.

“Baseball is obviously, after school, my number one priority,” Brown said. “Hopefully, it will be my job someday; I think if you want to be successful at anything, you’ve got to give it 100 percent.”

The Rochester Century senior is ranked by Baseball America magazine as one of the top 50 prospects in the upcoming June draft. The right-hander is turning heads with a fastball flying at 95 mph.

Brown says people always ask him if he thought he might be recognized in baseball.

“Not to sound arrogant, but: Yes,” Brown said. “This is what I have worked for my whole life.”

Brown has put in the extra work, including getting up at 4:30 a.m. three days a week to work out before school.

Keith Kangas, Brown’s coach at Century, said the pitcher has sacrificed a lot to achieve his goals.

“He’s done the little things that you need to do to separate yourself from the other players,” he said.

Brown’s dad, Jeff Brown, who is also a Korean powerlifter, may have given the 6-feet, 2-inches-tall Brown some of his pitching power. He also helps his son focus on baseball by snapping photos and recording his games, so as to help hone his skills, smoothing out little mistakes.

“We work on that all the time,” Jeff Brown said. “We review his tapes and pictures, and correct his little faults.”

Brown said his dad’s photography work plays a big part in his preparation. After all, pitching is about the little things.

“Pitching is frustrating like that: where you can be off just a little bit and it makes a big difference in the game,” he said.

“We are pleased to extend our broadcast agreement with St. Thomas, and to continue the tradition of broadcasting an expansive and enhanced experience to college football fans here in Minnesota,” said WCCO Radio Senior Vice President/Market Manager Mick Anselmo.

In 2011, WCCO-AM entered into an agreement to broadcast Tommie games.

The Tommies are the reigning MIAC regular season football champions, since 2010.

WCCO-AM will air the first game of the 2012 Tommie season on Sept. 1.

For the official 830 WCCO release, click here.

Leading the league in double-doubles with 48, Love finished second in minutes (39 per game) and was fourth in free-throws made with 379. Love, in his fourth year in the league, is the third player in NBA history to average more than 25 points and 10 rebounds, while also making more than 50 three-pointers.

Love received 365 points from a panel of sports writers and broadcasters. That was the third best score among forwards. Only LeBron James and Kevin Durant, who were the forwards on the first team, received more points.

Love received the highest score among true power forwards in the league. Voters are not asked to distinguish between small forwards and power forwards on their ballots.

LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard, Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul made the All-NBA First Team, while Kevin Love (16 first-team votes) was joined by Blake Griffin, Andrew Bynum, Tony Parker and Russell Westbrook on the second team.

The school will install new center-hung LED scoreboards, LED fascia boards and sound systems that will be ready to use at a date that has not yet been determined. The plan is to have those ready for the Gopher basketball and hockey seasons at Williams Arena and Mariucci Arena.

Daktronics, Inc., is building and installing the new scoreboards for the basketball and hockey arenas, and Parsons Electric will be putting in new sound systems at both facilities.

The new scoreboard at Mariucci Arena will be 11 feet, 6 inches tall by 14 feet, 9 inches wide. The main board at Williams Arena will be 11 feet, 7 inches tall by 13 feet, 8 inches wide. A control room will also be installed to run the scoreboards for Mariucci Arena, Williams Arena and TCF Bank Stadium.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Devils turned a stellar first nine minutes and an opportunistic final five into a stirring victory over the Rangers that moved New Jersey within one win of a trip to the Stanley Cup finals.

Suddenly, No. 1 seed New York is on the brink — again.

No one would have guessed when Travis Zajac scored 9:49 in to give the Devils a three-goal lead that they would be desperately looking for one more late in the third to hold off the Rangers, who had fought back to tie and appeared to have every bit of the momentum.

But the game, and perhaps the entire Eastern Conference finals, changed in the blink of an eye when Ryan Carter put the Devils in front to stay.

Carter snapped a tie with 4:24 left, and New Jersey survived en route to a 5-3 victory over New York after blowing a three-goal lead in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals on Wednesday night.

The rugged fourth-line forward, who had only four goals and four assists in 72 games with Florida and New Jersey, already has three goals in the playoffs, including two in the East finals.

The Devils, who led 3-0 before the first period was half over, have a 3-2 edge in the series and can advance to face the Los Angeles Kings in the finals with a win at home on Friday night. If the Rangers can stay alive, Game 7 would be back in Madison Square Garden Sunday.

“It’s a good feeling,” goalie Martin Brodeur said of the Devils’ status. “We worked really hard to get in that position. (There’s been) a lot of unsung heroes and guys producing at different times. Players are playing well. We’ve just got to keep going.

“Nothing is done yet.”

The Devils seemed primed for an easy win when Stephen Gionta and Patrik Elias scored within the first 4:13. Travis Zajac made it 3-0 before the Rangers woke up and began chipping away.

Brandon Prust brought New York within 3-1 before the first period was over, and Ryan Callahan made it a one-goal game in the first minute of the second. The Garden really rocked when Marian Gaborik tied it at 3 just 17 seconds into the third.

But the comeback was for naught. Carter put the Devils back in front, and Zach Parise sealed it with an empty-net goal.

“I thought,” Rangers coach John Tortorella said, “we probably played our best game of the series.”

Once Gaborik tied it with an unassisted goal that ricocheted in off the skate of Brodeur, it appeared the Rangers would ride the comeback all the way to one of the most stirring wins in team history — one that would rival victories over New Jersey in the classic 1994 East finals when the Rangers erased a 3-2 series hole behind Mark Messier’s guarantee.

Carter made sure it wouldn’t happen.

“You have to (keep it together) this time of year,” Gionta said. “You have to have a short memory. Fortunately we did and came out with the victory.”

Ilya Kovalchuk knocked Michael Del Zotto off the puck in the right corner, and Gionta sent a pass in front to Carter — who had just charged in front from the bench — for a quick shot that beat Henrik Lundqvist.

“A great play by Kovy to separate their (defensemen) from the puck,” Carter said. “Gio scooped the puck up, took a look and made a fantastic pass to me. All I had to was redirect it.”

New Jersey was outshot 28-17 overall and had only six shots in the third period, but two of them went in. Now the Devils are on the verge of their first Cup finals appearance since they won their third title in 2003.

Brodeur, the backbone of every New Jersey title, kept his focus throughout the third when he was loudly taunted with chants of “Mar-ty, Mar-ty” after New York got even.

“It was a mistake,” Brodeur said of Gaborik’s goal. “I’m pretty happy that the boys bounced back and made this a win for us. It would have been tough and people would have blamed that mishandle.”

The Rangers were ultimately done in by another terrible start. For the 13th straight game in these playoffs, the team that scored first in New York’s contests has gone on to win. The Rangers had been on a pattern of win-one, lose-one, but now they are on the verge of elimination with their second two-game losing streak in a series this year.

The only time the Rangers have won two straight in a playoff series is when they overcame a 3-2 hole in the first round and knocked out Ottawa. They have faced elimination three times already this postseason.

“We have to. There is no other way around it,” Lundqvist said of the Rangers’ comeback chances. “We have to bring all the good things we did and keep doing them in the next game. We played really well in the second and third period.”

They couldn’t say the same about the first.

“It’s different when you go down 3-0. You don’t have a whole lot to lose,” Rangers forward Brian Boyle said. “It was good nonetheless. Now it’s 3-2. Now we have to win two. That’s the bottom line.”

The Rangers burned their timeout early, and Devils coach Peter DeBoer spent his with 10:17 left. Parise implored his teammates on the bench to, `Come on boys.’ and the messages from the coach and the captain did the trick.

New Jersey surely never thought it would be in this kind of fight after storming in front early.

“It wasn’t pretty by any means, what we did tonight,” Parise said. “But we’re going home with a 3-2 lead.”

Not only didn’t the Rangers have the strong start they craved and insisted they needed, they were practically run out of their building less than 10 minutes in.

The same problems that plagued New York in its 4-1 loss in Game 4, when the Devils jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, cropped up again in front of the home fans that grew frustrated and angry early.

Gionta got the Devils going 2:43 in when he gathered a rebound of Mark Fayne’s shot right in front of Lundqvist, steadied himself without any pressure from the defense, and slipped in his third goal of the playoffs to start the barrage.

Elias made it 2-0 just 1:30 later on New Jersey’s fourth shot of the night.

After Kovalchuk fumbled the puck just inside the blue line, he dived to keep it from leaving the Rangers’ zone. The puck eventually came to Adam Henrique at the right point for a shot that was stopped by Lundqvist. Elias got it in front and scored his fourth.

Tortorella used his timeout then, but it made little difference. He appeared to be calm as he moved back and forth behind the bench while talking to his players. Whatever the message was didn’t sink in.

The Devils shrugged off a few scoring chances by the Rangers, and padded their lead again.

Just 5:26 after Elias’ goal, Zajac made it 3-0 with his seventh of the playoffs. Bryce Salvador wiped out Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh in the New Jersey end and started the play going the other way. Zajac got a clean shot from just inside the right circle that sailed past Lundqvist and beat him inside the left post at 9:49.

The tide began to turn the Rangers’ way the rest of the period as they allowed only one shot the rest of the period and began cutting into the deficit.

Prust, making his return following a one-game suspension for an elbow he delivered to the head of Devils defenseman Anton Volchenkov in Game 3, showed off a bit of scoring touch when he converted on a breakaway with 4:19 left in the first.

The Rangers outshot the Devils 9-6 in the lopsided first period, but continued their sudden defensive dominance well into the second. Then they cut the Devils’ lead down to a goal just 32 seconds into the second.

Brandon Dubinsky, back from a foot injury, fired a shot from the left point that was deflected in front and caromed toward the left corner. Artem Anisimov flung the puck back toward the crease and it struck the left skate of the driving Callahan and got past Brodeur. The goal stood up after a brief video review.

New Jersey didn’t record its first shot of the period, and its second since its third goal, until Henrique put a puck in on Lundqvist at 6:23.

Lundqvist, who had stopped 94 percent of the shots he faced in the playoffs before Wednesday, made just 12 saves. The Rangers allowed five goals one game after allowing four for the first time in this postseason.

To make the finals now, New York will have to win a third consecutive seven-game series. The Rangers have already played 19 postseason games.

“We have to have a short memory,” McDonagh said. “We’ve been in this position before in this playoffs and we found a way to get it done. We don’t want to look ahead. We have to win two games, but we just have to focus on winning one.”

Notes: Dubinsky had been sidelined since he was injured in the Rangers’ victory over Ottawa in Game 7 of the first round. He sat out all seven games of the second round against Washington and the first four against New Jersey. John Mitchell was scratched to make room in the lineup. Prust’s return forced D Steve Eminger to sit out after he played the two previous games. … Kovalchuk has 10 assists in the postseason. … Prust scored his first career NHL playoff goal in his 23rd game. … The game was played on the 18-year anniversary of Game 5 of the 1994 Eastern Conference finals, in which the Devils won, 4-1, took a 3-2 series lead, and prompted the Messier guarantee the following day.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

New York, on the brink of elimination, headed to New Jersey for Game 6.

The comparisons to 1994 were apparent before this series even started — now it’s near a crescendo. All that’s missing is a guarantee from the Rangers captain.

Just don’t tell that to the Devils.

“We won’t worry about it,” forward Patrik Elias said. “Who cares what happened way back then?”

The Devils are concerned with 2012, not what happened in a different millennium, when Rangers great Mark Messier delivered — and came through on — his stunning guarantee.

“That’s 15, 20 years ago. I don’t care,” said captain Zach Parise.

Meanwhile, Parise & Co. never could have imagined they would have a three-goal lead on New York less than 10 minutes into Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals at hostile Madison Square Garden. Their shock was even greater when that advantage was gone, and they were suddenly locked in a tie game in the opening minute of the third period.

In the end, it all worked out for the Devils, who got another surprising goal from fourth-line forward Ryan Carter in the closing minutes and escaped with a win that put New Jersey on the verge of a spot in the Stanley Cup finals.

Carter’s third goal of the playoffs with 4:24 remaining was the difference in the Devils’ 5-3 victory over New York on Wednesday night. The Devils have a 3-2 edge in the series, but if the top-seeded Rangers can stay alive on Friday night in New Jersey, Game 7 would be back in Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

“It’s a good feeling,” goalie Martin Brodeur said of the Devils’ status. “We worked really hard to get in that position. (There’s been) a lot of unsung heroes and guys producing at different times. Players are playing well. We’ve just got to keep going.

“Nothing is done yet.”

If the Rangers fall short, their best season in years will come to a crashing end and the Devils will move on to face the Western champion Los Angeles Kings. New York hasn’t been to the finals since 1994, when the Rangers knocked out New Jersey in the semis and then beat Vancouver for the title.

The Devils are one win away from playing for the Cup one season after their run of 13 straight postseason appearances was snapped. New Jersey went to the finals four times between 1995 and 2003 and won three championships.

“It’s a great position to be in,” Elias said. “Hopefully, we can play a better game at home. Hopefully, we’ll be the team that dictates the energy and the pace out there.”

When Travis Zajac scored 9:49 in to make it 3-0, the Devils seemed ready to cruise to victory. But the Rangers roared back and appeared to have every bit of the momentum.

Then the game, and perhaps the entire series, changed in the blink of an eye when Carter put the Devils in front to stay. Parise added an empty-net goal to make sure the Rangers had no chance for another comeback.

Carter had only four goals and four assists in 72 regular-season games with Florida and New Jersey. He has two goals in the East finals.

“They’ve been great the whole playoffs,” Elias said of the fourth line. “It’s not always the top guys who win you hockey games.”

Stephen Gionta and Elias scored within the first 4:13 before Zajac made it 3-0. Then the Rangers woke up.

Brandon Prust brought New York within 3-1 before the first period was over, and Ryan Callahan made it a one-goal game in the first minute of the second. The Garden really rocked when Marian Gaborik tied it at 3 just 17 seconds into the third.

But the comeback was for naught.

“We probably played our best game of the series,” Rangers coach John Tortorella said.

Once Gaborik tied it with an unassisted goal that ricocheted in off Brodeur’s skate, it appeared the Rangers would ride the comeback all the way to one of the most stirring wins in team history — one that would rival victories over New Jersey in the classic 1994 East finals when the Rangers erased a 3-2 series hole behind Mark Messier’s guarantee.

Carter made sure it wouldn’t happen.

“You have to (keep it together) this time of year,” Gionta said. “You have to have a short memory. Fortunately we did and came out with the victory.”

New Jersey was outshot 28-17 overall and had only six shots in the third period, but two went in.

Brodeur, the backbone of every New Jersey title, kept his focus throughout the third when he was loudly taunted with chants of “Mar-ty, Mar-ty” after New York got even.

“It was a mistake,” Brodeur said of Gaborik’s goal. “I’m pretty happy that the boys bounced back and made this a win for us. It would have been tough and people would have blamed that mishandle.”

The Rangers were ultimately done in by another terrible start. They had been on a pattern of win-one, lose-one, but now they are on the verge of elimination with their second two-game losing streak in a series this year.

The only time the Rangers have won two straight in a playoff series this postseason is when they overcame a 3-2 hole in the first round and knocked out Ottawa.

“We have to bring all the good things we did and keep doing them in the next game,” Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist said. “We played really well in the second and third period.”

They couldn’t say the same about the first.

“It’s different when you go down 3-0. You don’t have a whole lot to lose,” Rangers forward Brian Boyle said. “It was good nonetheless. Now it’s 3-2. Now we have to win two. That’s the bottom line.”

The Rangers burned their timeout early, and Devils coach Peter DeBoer spent his with 10:17 left. Parise implored his teammates on the bench — “Come on boys!” — and the messages from the coach and the captain did the trick.

“It wasn’t pretty by any means,” Parise said. “But we’re going home with a 3-2 lead.”

Not only didn’t the Rangers have the strong start they craved and insisted they needed, they were practically run out of their building.

The same problems that plagued New York in its 4-1 loss in Game 4, when the Devils jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, cropped up again in front of the frustrated fans.

Gionta got the Devils going 2:43 in, and Elias made it 2-0 1:30 later on New Jersey’s fourth shot.

Tortorella used his timeout, but it made little difference. He appeared to be calm as he moved back and forth behind the bench while talking to his players. Whatever the message was it didn’t sink in.

The Devils shrugged off a few scoring chances by the Rangers, and padded their lead again.

Just 5:26 after Elias’ goal, Zajac made it 3-0 with his seventh of the playoffs. Zajac got a clean shot from just inside the right circle that beat Lundqvist inside the left post.

The tide began to turn the Rangers’ way, and they allowed only one shot the rest of the period.

Prust, making his return following a one-game suspension for an elbow he delivered to the head of Devils defenseman Anton Volchenkov in Game 3, showed off a bit of scoring touch when he converted on a breakaway with 4:19 left in the first to make it 3-1.

The Rangers outshot the Devils 9-6 in the lopsided period, but continued their sudden defensive dominance well into the second. Then they cut the Devils’ lead to a goal just 32 seconds into the second.

New Jersey didn’t record its first shot of the period, and its second since its third goal, until Adam Henrique put a puck in on Lundqvist at 6:23.

Lundqvist, who had stopped 94 percent of the shots he faced in the playoffs before Wednesday, made just 12 saves. The Rangers allowed five goals one game after giving up four for the first time in this postseason.

To make the finals, New York will have to win a third consecutive seven-game series.

“We have to have a short memory,” Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. “We’ve been in this position before in this playoffs and we found a way to get it done. We don’t want to look ahead. We have to win two games, but we just have to focus on winning one.”

What’s your prediction for Game 6? Sound off in the comments below!

(TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

Sale pitched seven sharp innings and Paul Konerko and Alex Rios backed him with home runs, leading the Chicago White Sox to a 6-0 win over the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night.

Sale (5-2) held the Twins to two hits and two walks, striking out six. He has allowed three runs or less in all eight of his starts in his first year as a member of the rotation.

“Part of pitching is finding a groove and rolling with it,” Sale said. “I felt early that I got into a groove and A.J. (Pierzynski) back there calling one of the best games I’ve seen him call in a while. It was fun to be out there.”

Still showing a black eye after getting hit in the face by a pitch last Friday, Konerko had three hits and scored three times.

“It’s only when I look in the mirror that I can see something is wrong with it,” he said.

Konerko connected in the seventh for his ninth homer of the season. He’s hitting .548 (17 of 31) during a nine-game hitting streak and his .381 average for the season is two points better than Texas’ Josh Hamilton for the AL lead.

“You’re always grinding out there,” Konerko said. “I had one good swing the whole night, a really good swing at the end there that turns into a home run.”

Rios sent a two-run homer into the Twins’ bullpen in left field in the fourth, his first home run since April 7 at Texas.

“I think he’s been swinging it pretty good and not really hitting home runs,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “Just approach-wise he’s been looking good at the plate, putting in his work and feeling comfortable at the plate.”

The White Sox recorded their fifth shutout of the season and have won five of six. Chicago had lost 9-2 to Minnesota on Tuesday.

“These guys are resilient,” Ventura said. “They find a way to come back and as difficult as yesterday was all the way around to be able to bounce back and put together a game like this all the way around, pitching and the offense, is nice to see.”

The Twins entered the game with the worst record in the AL, but had gone 5-1 on their current road trip. They hurt themselves by making three errors, setting up three unearned runs — Minnesota had committed just one error in its previous eight games. Minnesota has been shut out eight times this season.

“Sale was really good on us,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “He didn’t give us much of a chance. Our defense, which has been playing really good, as talked about before the ballgame — I think we jinxed ourselves.”

Scott Diamond (3-1) allowing five runs, only two of them earned, and gave up a season-high nine hits. He left the game with a 1.78 ERA this season.

“He threw the ball well,” Gardenhire said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t make some plays behind him. We made him throw some extra pitches and made him work a little bit harder.”

Sale permitted just one runner past first base and was aided by a pair of double plays. He’s made a seamless return to the rotation over his last three outings after a brief shift to the bullpen, the team’s response to his elbow soreness.

“I felt like I was commanding my fastball well and I threw the changeup for strikes more so than I have been,” he said.

Chicago scored an unearned run in the first on Adam Dunn’s RBI single, helped by an error from second baseman Jamey Carroll. The White Sox tacked on two more unearned runs in the sixth on an RBI double by Pierzynski and an RBI groundout by Orlando Hudson, with right fielder Darin Mastroianni dropping a fly ball during the inning.

NOTES: Joe Mauer reached base three times for Minnesota on a single and a pair of walks. He’s reached base in 13 of his last 18 plate appearances. … Hudson made his first career start at third base. … Ventura said that rookie Addison Reed is now his full-time closer. Reed has converted all four of his save opportunities this season.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — The University of St. Thomas baseball team is heading to its fifth Division-III College World Series.

The Tommies begin play on Friday afternoon in the double-elimination tournament in Appleton, Wis. This year’s team has an impressive pitching staff that’s helped pave the road to the series – the Tommies’ top three pitchers are 28- 3 and have an ERA under 2.

And for senior pitcher Bryce Gapinki, he’s hoping for a bit of déjà vu.

“We were fortunate to win it my freshman year,” Gapinski said. “And I think we have the talent to come back and win it again. It’d be the perfect ending – win in it my freshman year, and come back and win it my senior year.”

The Benilde-St. Margaret’s student was released from Sister Kenny Institute in April, and returned to the hospital a week later after suffering “issues that are common to people with spinal cord injuries.”

Jablonski was injured after he was checked from behind during a hockey game on Dec. 30, 2011.

Jablonski’s parents wrote on his CaringBridge page that the sophomore has been up and down in the last month, and returned to Sister Kenny Institute after he started feeling ill again.

“We’re waiting for test results and hoping that his docs are able to figure out a plan to prevent these frequent mishaps from sending us to the ER every few weeks,” said the CaringBridge post on Monday.

Last time Jablonski returned to the hospital, his parents said it was particularly difficult because he had been scheduled to throw out the first pitch in a Twins game at Target Field with his brother Max.

Jablonski spent a total of 111 days in a hospital bed before his first discharge from Sister Kenny Institute.

Minnesota men’s and women’s head coach Kelly Kremer announced on Wednesday that associate head coach Bill Tramel has accepted the job.

Kremer says Tramel has been waiting for the chance to run a program and “Marshall is very lucky to have him.”

Tramel spent the last eight years on the Golden Gophers coaching staff, primarily working with the men’s team. He helped them win Big Ten titles in 2005 and 2007. In his lone year working with the women last season, the Gophers won the conference title.

Tramel also served as the primary coach for Alex Wold, the Gopher who was named to Team USA in 2009.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The Vikings announced the deal Wednesday. Ellison was one of the team’s three fourth-round selections. He was chosen 128th overall out of USC and could eventually take the place of longtime battering ram Jim Kleinsasser, who retired after last season.

The Vikings signed six of their picks Tuesday.

First-round selections Matt Kalil and Harrison Smith and third-round pick Josh Robinson have yet to sign.

The NFL’s new collective bargaining agreement sets a more rigid system for negotiating contracts, which has streamlined the process for signing deals.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)