Afternoon Sports Update - Gallardo will start tomorrow for Brewers

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ST. LOUIS - The Milwaukee Brewers announced a change today in their starting rotation for the weekend series at Saint Louis that begins tomorrow night.

Right handers Yovani Gallardo and Marco Estrada are trading places. Gallardo will start tomorrow night, and Estrada’s start will be held up by a day until Saturday. Zack Greinke will still get the nod on Sunday, as originally planned. Both Gallardo and Greinke say they prefer to start every fifth day if possible. And both will get their wish with today’s revision. Meanwhile, the Brewers have resigned outfielder Jay Gibbons to a minor league deal. He’s going to AA Huntsville to provide outfield help, after Brock Kjeldgaard went out with a torn thumb ligament. Gibbons was with the Brewers are Spring Training before he was released just before the regular season began. Also today, the Brewers signed left hander Phillipe Valiquette to a minor-league deal. He’s at the team’s extended spring training facility in Phoenix.

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In the Midwest League, the Beloit Snappers will go for their second straight home win over Bowling Green tonight. The Snappers won a 9-3 game last night. The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers will try to even their home series against Dayton, on the heels of a 4-3 Rattlers’ loss. Wisconsin is still second in the Western Division at 11-9, a half game behind first place Quad Cities. Beloit is tied for third at 10-10. Lansing, the East leader, has the league’s best record at 15-and-5. Lansing hosts Kane County tonight. Quad Cities is at home against West Michigan. Clinton plays at Great Lakes. Peoria is at Lake County. Fort Wayne hosts Burlington. And South Bend plays at Cedar Rapids.

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Madison golfer Steve Stricker was tied for third place at mid afternoon, in Day One of the PGA’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Stricker shot a six under par 66 with the help of four straight birdies on the fifth through eighth holes. Stricker was one stroke behind co-leaders Ken Duke and Cameron Tringale as the afternoon group was going through. Madison’s Jerry Kelly joined Stricker in the morning group, and did not do nearly as well. Kelly shot a one over 73, and was tied for 101st at mid-afternoon.

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The Milwaukee Bucks’ home season is over, and they finished with the sixth lowest attendance in the NBA going into tonight’s final night of the league schedule. An average of 14,718 fans attended Bucks’ games at the Bradley Center, the lowest average since the arena opened in 1988. The NBA lockout was a factor in the smaller crowds, along with the Bucks sub-.500 overall record. They were inconsistent at home, too, finishing with a 17-16 mark on their own floor. Also, Bucks’ vice president John Steinmiller said the schedule was a big problem. He only 11 of Milwaukee’s 33 home games were on the weekends, when the team normally draws more. The New Jersey Nets had the NBA’s lowest average crowds of 13,961. They’re moving from East Rutherford to a new arena in Brooklyn next season.

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The University of Wisconsin men’s hockey team will play one of its home games outdoors in Chicago next winter. The UW has signed a contract with the Inter Sport promotion company to be part of a regional double header on Sunday, February 17th of next year at Soldier Field. The Badgers will play Minnesota in a WCHA game, and Notre Dame and Miami will square off in a Central Collegiate Hockey Association matchup. The Badger game will be the second contest in a weekend double header against the Gophers. Game One will be on Friday night, February 15th in Madison.

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The Green Bay Gamblers are getting ready to play Indiana in the Eastern Conference finals of the US junior hockey league playoffs. The Gamblers advanced with a 4-1 victory over Youngstown last night. Sam Herr scored the deciding goal with almost 12 and a half minutes left, as Green Bay won the best of five conference semi final series three games to one.

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Wisconsin is ranked 10th in the NCAA Division One all sports standings after the winter seasons. The Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup lists schools according to their national finishes in the various sports. Among other things, the Badgers received high marks for their second place national finish in women’s hockey, their Sweet 16 appearance in men’s basketball, a 15th place showing in women’s swimming. That gave Wisconsin a total of 582 points. Stanford is Number One with almost 1030 points.

Tags: wisconsin sports, sports, proam