Minnesota Sports Briefs: Twins start series with Angels with a loss

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MINNEAPOLIS - Los Angeles infielder Alberto Callaspo homered and drove home three runs to power the Angels to an 8-3 win over the Twins last night at Target Field.

Angels right-hander Jered Weaver was on the mound for the first time since no-hitting Minnesota last Wednesday. Weaver tossed six innings of three-hit, one-run ball to up his record to 5-0. Albert Pujols drove in two runs in Anaheim's third straight win. Joe Mauer, Ryan Doumit and Denard Span knocked in the runs for Minnesota. Brian Dozier collected a basehit in his Minnesota debut. Francisco Liriano allowed four runs in five innings to fall to 0-5. The same two teams play tonight at 7:10 p.m.

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The Minnesota Vikings have released veteran kicker Ryan Longwell. Longwell spent the last six seasons with the Vikings after a nine-year run with the Packers. The 37-year-old made 22-of-28 field goal attempts last season and is the Vikings' third all-time leading scorer. He ranks first on the Packers' all-time scoring list. Minnesota drafted kicker Blair Walsh out of the University of Georgia and head coach Leslie Frazier says they drafted him for a reason.

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Kentucky Derby winner "I'll Have Another" has arrived in Maryland to begin prepping for the 137th running of the Preakness Stakes The star three-year-old colt arrived on a flight at BWI-Marshall Airport yesterday afternoon and was taken to Pimlico Race Course. "I'll Have Another" will be bedded down in Barn D at the historic track, next to the Preakness Stakes barn. The second leg of horse racing's triple crown is set for May 19th at "Old Hilltop."

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Yahoo! Sports reports former New Orleans Saints and current Packers defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove was told to cover-up the team's bounty program. Hargrove reportedly submitted a signed declaration to the NFL detailing how he was told by coaches Gregg Williams and Joe Vitt to deny the bounty program was in place in 2010 when then-Vikings quarterback Brett Favre was a target of the plan. Hargrove was suspended eight games, but he appealed the penalty yesterday.

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The Saints signed defensive tackle Remi Ayodele yesterday. Ayodele spent last season with the Vikings. The 29-year-old had 15 tackles and one-and-a-half sacks in 16 games.

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The NHL Players Association is donating 50 sets of hockey equipment to a Minnesota-based non-profit that helps children of military families. Bryan Reynolds with Defending the Blue Line says the timing is right with three-thousand National Guard soldiers returning from Kuwait and Iraq. Reynolds says the players have donated more than $100,000 worth of equipment to military hockey families in Minnesota. Benefits are based on reverse rank so a private will get gear before a general. Applications are available at defendingtheblueline.org

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Following the Blues' departure from the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Sunday at the hands of the Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis is moving ahead with its new management group. According to "The Dispatch" the group lead by minority owner Tom Stillman is expected to close on the purchase of the Blues tomorrow. Hall of Famer Brett Hull, a former Minnesota-Duluth star, will have a management position under the new regime. The total estimated cost of the deal is $130-million and includes the Blues, Peoria Rivermen of the AHL and interest in the Peabody Opera House.

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NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced on Monday that the Phoenix Coyotes will be sold to a group led by former San Jose Sharks CEO Greg Jamison. Bettman said during a press conference that the tentative deal will be finalized in the "not so distant future." The team, which is currently owned by the NHL, has been in turmoil ever since former owner Jerry Moyes filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009. Several bids for the team have fallen through, including some potential buyers that had hoped to move the team.

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The WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx continue training camp as they look toward defending their title. The Lynx open the exhibition portion of their schedule with a preseason at Connecticut on Thursday. Last night, star players Seimone Augustus and Rebekkah Brunson threw out the first pitch at the Twins-Angels game.

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Former University of Minnesota running back Darrell Thompson, who is the school's all-time leading rusher, is hosting the eighth annual fundraising dinner for the charitable organization he leads. Thompson is the full-time executive director of Twin Cities-based "Bolder Options," which is a youth mentoring program aimed at keeping at-risk kids in school and interested in achieving life success. The "Training For Life" dinner is set for Thursday night at TCF Bank Stadium. Terry Hitchcock, who ran 75 marathons in 75 days, is the keynote motivational speaker at the dinner. Several other local celebrities will attend, including Minnesota football coach Jerry Kill, former Gopher basketball star Jim Peterson, and hockey star Shjon Podein. Thompson is a Rochester native who starred for the Golden Gophers before playing in the NFL as a member of the Green Bay Packers. He currently serves as the radio analyst on the Gopher statewide football broadcasts. For more information on the dinner, log on to the Bolder Options webpage.

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