Afternoon Sports Update - Brewers have called up AA Tyler Thonrburg to throw against Toronto tonight

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Milwaukee Brewers’ fans could see the future ace of the team’s pitching staff tonight, when AA Tyler Thornburg goes for the Brew Crew against Toronto at Miller Park. The Brewers confirmed a rash of Internet rumors this afternoon. They said they promoted Thornburg to the big club, and he would start against the Blue Jays. The Brewers must drop a player to make room for Thornburg on their 40 man roster. That move was not immediately announced. He was the Brewers’ third round draft choice in 2010. This year at AA Huntsville, Thornburg went 8-1 with an ERA of three and in April, he threw a perfect game for seven and two thirds innings. He tweeted yesterday that the Brewers had promoted him to AAA Nashville, but the team never made it official. Thornburg was earlier named to the AA Southern League’s All Star Game for tonight. The Blue Jays are also starting a minor leaguer tonight due to their pitching injuries. Right hander Jesse Chavez was called up yesterday from AAA Las Vegas. He’s 7-2 at Vegas with a 3.84 ERA. The Brewers are trying to win their 12th straight game over the Blue Jays in Milwaukee, dating back 15 years. Milwaukee also hopes to gain more ground in the NL Central, after gaining a game last night and moving to within seven and a half of first.

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The Milwaukee Brewers can finally go above .500 at home tonight with a win over Toronto. The Brewers have stumbled at Miller Park this season, after winning over 70-percent of their home contests a year ago. The Crew improved their home record to 17-and-17 last night with a 7-to-6 win over the Blue Jays in a “game of firsts.” Milwaukee won its first home run replay reversal in Miller Park history. A shot by Aramis Ramirez that was first ruled foul turned out to be the game-winning homer upon further review. Also, ex-Brewers’ prospect Brett Lawrie hit his first career lead-off homer. Toronto’s Edwin Encarnacion belted a 463-foot blast that went down Bernie Brewer’s slide high above the left-field corner. That blast went viral on the Internet this morning, and it made Yahoo’s home page. Also, Brewers’ slugger Ryan Braun padded his Major League-leading 23-game Interleague hitting streak with a pair of singles. Braun tied former Brewer Mark Loretta for the eighth-longest hitting streak in Interleague contests since the format began in 1997.

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Brewers’ slugger Ryan Braun has dropped to fourth place among outfielders in the fan voting for the National League All Star team. That means Braun is no longer in line for one of the three starting outfield spots despite an extremely hot week at the plate in which he belted three homers at Minnesota over the weekend. He currently has a 13 game hitting streak, and he leads the Majors with a 23 game hitting streak in Interleague play. Still, Giants’ outfielder Melky Cabrera moved past Braun in the fan voting this past week. He now 2,144,000 votes, about 26,000 more than Braun. Matt Kemp of the Dodgers is still the top vote-getter for the three outfield starting spots, and Carlos Beltran is second. Also, Milwaukee’s Rickie Weeks is fifth in the fan voting at second base, and the injured Jonathan Lucroy remains fifth among NL catchers. In stadium voting ends tonight at Miller Park. On-line voting continues for another nine days.

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The US men’s basketball team will play Argentina tonight in the semi-finals of the Under 18 Americas’ Championship in Brazil. Team USA went 3-0 in the preliminary round, with the help of Wisconsin recruit Sam Dekker. The former star at Sheboygan Lutheran High School scored eight points in 12 minutes last night, as the US downed the host Brazilians 83-64. Dekker capped a 19-4 run late in the first half with back to back three pointers. He also had two rebounds and a steal on the night. The Americans have the top seed going into the semi-finals. Tonight’s winner will face either Canada or Brazil in the title contest.

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Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo of Burlington was eliminated today in his first match at the state golf association’s Match Play Championship in Germantown. Romo lost to Sam Frank of Oconomowoc one up in the Round of 64. Thirty two survivors are squaring off this afternoon. The tournament continues until Thursday.

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Suspended Green Bay Packers’ defensive end Johnny Jolly has asked the NFL to reinstate him. Jolly was released from prison a few weeks ago, after several felony arrests for possessing codeine in his home town of Houston. He’s on probation in the Texas justice system for the next 10 years and he’s been under suspension in the NFL since the end of the 2009 season. The 29 year old Jolly tells the National Football Post that he needs the game of football much more than the game needs him and he hopes to show he can be quote, “a good, reliable citizen that the league and others can depend on and trust.” Jolly says he’s been clean for eight months, and he’s been working out. He says he’d still like to lose about 10 pounds. Green Bay still possesses his rights and Jolly believes the Packers would give him another chance. Jolly could step back into a starting role if he’s readmitted. Veteran defensive ends Anthony Hargrove and Mike Neal will both start the season under league suspensions. Jolly started the entire 2008 and 2009 seasons.

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In the Northwoods League, the La Crosse Loggers will play at Battle Creek again tonight. The Loggers maintained a four game lead in the South Division with an 11-7 victory last night. Wisconsin Rapids and Green Bay remained tied for second. Rapids won at Eau Claire 5-4 last night, while Green Bay blanked Madison at home 8-0. Both those series also continue this evening. The Wisconsin Woodchucks will host Lakeshore again, on the heels of a 4-0 ‘Chucks victory. Also tonight, Duluth will play at North Division-leading Mankato. Thunder Bay hosts Waterloo. Rochester is at home against Alexandria. And Willmar plays at Saint Cloud. Mankato has a onegame lead over Waterloo in the North.

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The national champion Saint Norbert College men’s hockey team will move to the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association starting in the fall of next year. The Green Bay Press-Gazette says the move will be announced at a news conference this afternoon. The paper also says Saint Scholastica of Duluth will join the MCHA. Both those schools were left hanging in the balance, after the WIAC said earlier this year that five of its men’s hockey teams would withdraw from the NCHA, and play only in their own conference. Until now, UW Eau Claire, Stevens Point, River Falls, Stout, and Superior had played in two leagues their own plus the NCHA. The WIAC said it pulled out of the Northern conference due to budget reasons. Saint Norbert is the two time NCAA Division Three champion in men’s hockey. The Press Gazette said the Green Knights could have moved to Division One, but they would have been put at a competitive disadvantage because of the scholarships that other schools offer. The five WIAC schools are also pulling their women’s programs but the NCHA still has the minimum seven members needed to get an automatic NCAA bid in the spring.

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The Milwaukee Bucks are auditioning six more players today, as they get ready for the NBA Draft a week from Thursday night. The Bucks have the 12th pick in the first round and they’re looking to see if North Carolina power forward John Henson could fit that spot. He averaged 14 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocked shots for the Tar Heels last season but some pundits wonder if he’s too thin to handle the big bodies up-front in the NBA. He’s still projected as a first-rounder. Also getting a workout with the Bucks today were Wichita State center Garrett Stutz forward Augustus Gilchrest of South Florida and Rob Jones of Saint Mary’s and guards Matt Gatens of Iowa and Zane Johnson from Hawaii.

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