Morning State Sports Briefs: Bucks win Summer League opener

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LAS VEGAS - The Milwaukee Bucks won their Summer League opener last night, beating the New Orleans Hornets 76-68 Monday.

The Bucks led by eight after the first quarter. The Hornets go to within one with just over a minute left, but Milwaukee hung on to win as they scored nine of the game’s final 11 points. Second-round draft choice Doron Lamb led the Bucks with 20 points. Former South Florida player Jarrid Famous had 13 points and 11 rebounds for Milwaukee. Forward John Henson, the Bucks’ first round draft choice, sat out with an undisclosed illness. Lance Thomas led New Orleans with 22 points. The Bucks will play Washington this afternoon, in Game-Two of their five-game Summer League schedule.

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Milwaukee Brewers’ starter Zack Greinke has been shelved until next Tuesday night at Philadelphia. If the Brewers fall out of playoff contention by then, the right-hander could have two starts before the July 31st trade deadline. And if that’s the route the Brewers go, they would give Greinke some rest, a better chance to make a good audition, and possibly increase his trade value. Manager Ron Roenicke said trade consequences have to be considered. But in this case, the skipper said Greinke got quote, “out of whack” by pitching three times in a seven-day span around the All-Star break. Last Friday night, he gave up six runs in five innings against Pittsburgh – and Roenicke said Greinke didn’t feel right. Greinke said he didn’t want to speak out of turn about the matter, and he told Roenicke he wouldn’t tell the media any more than what the manager put out. After being ejected 10 days ago at Houston, Greinke came back the next day and struggled through three innings. He then had the four-day All-Star break off before his rough performance last Friday. Greinke became the first pitcher since 1917 to start three consecutive games in the same season. Roenicke said quote, “We tried to do something with Zack that I think Zack thought was kind of neat, and we thought would work. And it didn’t work.” Rookie Tyler Thornburg will start in Greinke’s place tomorrow against Saint Louis.

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Brewers’ catcher Jonathan Lucroy will start a minor league rehab assignment on Thursday with the Class-“A” Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. Lucroy has been out since late May, when he broke his right hand after a suitcase fell on it during a freak accident in a hotel room. Yesterday, Lucroy took part in all the pre-game drills before the Brewers fell to Saint Louis. He said he did some throwing and ran the bases – and everything felt good. Manager Ron Roenicke says Lucroy will play a few games for the Timber Rattlers, and then a couple with Triple-“A” Nashville. The Brewers could have an interesting decision to make when Lucroy returns. George Kottaras, the normal back-up, is only batting .147 since April. And Martin Maldonado, who was called up from the minors to take Lucroy’s roster spot, has been a solid catcher and a clutch hitter with five homers. Maldonado says he’s glad Lucroy is coming back – and he’s been a great mentor to him.

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SCORES

In the Midwest League…

Fort Wayne 7, Wisconsin 4

Lake County 9, Beloit 8

South Bend 10, Clinton 4

Peoria 8, Bowling Green 3

Lansing 11, Cedar Rapids 5

Quad Cities 6, Great Lakes 2

Burlington 4, Dayton 1

Kane County 9, West Michigan 5

In the Northwoods League…

Wisconsin 9, Wisconsin Rapids 7

Eau Claire 16, Battle Creek 2

Madison 5, Green Bay 4

Lakeshore 9, La Crosse 1

Alexandria 9, Rochester 5

Waterloo 6, Willmar 4

Mankato 8, Saint Cloud 2

Duluth at Thunder Bay, rained out

Tags: wisconsin sports, sports, proam, bucks, brewers