Minnesota Sports Briefs: Twins open interleague series with Pirates

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PITTSBURGH - The Minnesota Twins were off yesterday and begin a three-game interleague series in Pittsburgh against the Pirates tonight.

The Twins won Sunday's game at home against Milwaukee 5-4 in 15 innings. The Pirates beat Cleveland on Sunday. Minnesota's Scott Diamond goes against Pittsburgh's Kevin Correia tonight. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m.

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Former Twins pitcher R.A. Dickey pitched his second straight one-hitter, striking out a career-high 13 with two walks, as his New York Mets blanked the Baltimore Orioles 5-0 to begin a three-game series Monday in New York. Dickey is now 11-1 on the year and tied a career-high in victories. He tossed his third complete game in his last four starts and extended his streak without giving up an earned run to 42-and-two-thirds innings, last surrendering one in the sixth inning at Pittsburgh on May 22. The eye-popping march to the history books didn't stop there. Dickey also became the first National League hurler since the Boston Braves' Jim Tobin in 1944 to allow one hit or fewer in back-to-back complete games. Dickey won his ninth straight decision and hasn't lost since giving up eight runs in Atlanta on April 18.

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Here are results from Monday's games in the American Association:

St. Paul 8, Lincoln 3 (final)

Fargo-Moorhead 7, Sioux City 0 (final)

Sioux Falls 6, Winnipeg 5 (final)

Kansas City 8, El Paso 1 (final)

Laredo 3, Gary 0 (final)

Wichita 10, Amarillo 5 (final)

Grand Prairie 8, Rockland 7 (final)

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Here are results from Monday's games in the Northwoods League:

Mankato 11, Rochester 6 (final)

Willmar 9, St. Cloud 6 (final)

Waterloo 10, Alexandria 4 (final)

Thunder Bay 7, Duluth 2 (final)

Green Bay 8, Madison 0 (final)

Wisconsin Rapids 5, Eau Claire 4 (final)

LaCrosse 11, Battle Creek 7 (final)

Wisconsin 4, Lakeshore 0 (final)

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Here are Monday's championship game results from the 2012 Minnesota High School League State Baseball Tournament at Target Field:

Class 3A: Eastview 1, Bemidji 0

Class 2A: Holy Family Catholic 5, St. Cloud Cathedral 0

Class 1A: St. Paul St. Agnes 6, Lac qui Parle Valley 0

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On the same day a lawyer for New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma called the bounty appeal hearing for his client and three other players a sham, the NFL presented reporters with some previously unseen evidence it has collected in the case. Among the revelations Monday were details of the alleged bounty program kept on a computer system provided by Saints owner Tom Benson, as well as a $35,000 bounty against then-Vikings quarterback Brett Favre in the 2009 NFC Championship Game played in 2010. The NFL showed the evidence to reporters from several media outlets. According to one account, a slide from the Saints computer system read: "Now it's time to do our job, collect bounty money, no apologies, let's go hunting." It was accompanied by a photo of Duane Chapman, known better as the star of the reality TV show "Dog the Bounty Hunter." The NFL revealed that much of its evidence in the bounty investigation came from Saints assistant coach Joe Vitt and former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. Williams, according to one account, told investigators at one point that he was "rolling the dice with player safety and someone could have been maimed."

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The Minnesota Vikings open a three-day, mandatory mini-camp at Winter Park later today. The squad will go through a light workout in the mid-morning and then have a full practice in the early afternoon. Division rivals Chicago, Detroit and Green Bay all finished their mini-camps last week, so Minnesota is the final NFC North Division team to hold the three-day football session.

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Here is the 2012 football schedule for the University of Minnesota:

Thursday, August 30th - at UNLV, 10pm

Saturday, September 8th - vs. New Hampshire, 11am

Saturday, September 15th - vs. Western Michigan, 11am

Saturday, September 22nd - vs. Syracuse, 7pm

Saturday, September 29th - at Iowa, 11am

Saturday, October 13th - vs. Northwestern, 11am

Saturday, October 20th - at Wisconsin, TBD

Saturday, October 27th - vs. Purdue, TBD

Saturday, November 3rd - vs. Michigan, TBD

Saturday, November 10th - at Illinois, TBD

Saturday, November 17th - at Nebraska, TBD

Saturday, November 26th - vs. Michigan State, TBD

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The Minnesota Wild preseason schedule has been released with three home dates, three road dates, and a neutral site contest. Minnestoa will open the exhibition season with a game against Dallas in Boise, Idaho on Tuesday, September 25th. The three-game preseason home slate features games against the Stars, Blues, and Jets. Road games include the Jets, Blues, and Flames. Here is the Wild preseason slate:

Tuesday, September 25th - vs. Dallas (in Boise), 8pm

Wednesday, September 26th - vs. Dallas (in St. Paul), 7pm

Thursday, September 27th - vs. St. Louis (in St Paul), 7pm

Saturday, September 29th - at St. Louis, 7pm

Tuesday, October 2nd - vs. Winnipeg (in St. Paul), 7pm

Thursday, October 4th - at Winnipeg, 7pm

Saturday, October 6th - at Calgary, 8pm

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The annual charity hockey game to benefit the "Defending The Blue Line" organization is scheduled for tomorrow night at Ridder Arena on the University of Minnesota campus. The charity game and autograph session features several NHL players, most of whom are from Minnesota. Included in the preliminary roster of stars to take part is Zach Parise of the Devils, Jamie McBain of the Hurricanes, Matt Hendricks of the Capitals, and Wild players Josh Harding and Nate Prosser. Tickets are $20-dollars in advance or 25-dollars on gameday. "Defending The Blue Line" is an organization designed to help military families with costs associated with playing hockey. The group provides financial assistance to those who need it by helping with registration fees, equipment costs, hockey camp tuition, and tickets to Wild games. The charity game and autograph session is set to start at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow.

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The search for a new men's basketball coach at Bemidji State is winding down. The school has named four finalists for the job and all four will be on campus starting today for final interviews and evaluations. The four finalists include Al Biancalana, an assistant from the University of Illinois-Chicago; Mike Boschee, head coach at Central College in Iowa; Austin Hansen, as assistant at South Dakota State; and Jeff Hironka, an assistant at Washington State. Bemidji State lost its previous head coach Matt Bowen to conference rival Minnesota-Duluth.

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Michigan State star basketball player Draymond Green of Saginaw, Michigan has been named the Big Ten Conference Athlete of the Year. Green paced the Spartans to a regular season conference title and was named a first-team all-America. Ohio State track athlete Christina Maning is the league's female athlete of the yaer. The Waldorf, Maryland native was an 11-time all-American and 10-time Big Ten champion in various sprint and hurdle events.

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