KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2010 / SPORTS / 3B
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
Stoops concerned with team's start
minna quarterback Landry Jones gets sacked by Darrell Stuckey last year in a game at Memorial Stadium. Jones played poorly in Oklahoma's opener, completing just 47.2 percent of his passes and throwing two intercept
NORMAN, Okla. — Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said the offense was vanilla in the season opener against Utah State.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
That will change this week when the Sooners host No. 20 Florida State.
"Our play (offensively) was uneven, not where we want it to be, but I will say we held quite a few things that we didn't show that we've been working on which didn't help us." Stoops said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. "But we didn't execute as well in some areas as we should have."
Since Jones completed only 47.2 percent of his passes and threw two interceptions, Stoops was asked if he's concerned about his sophomore quarterback.
Opening up the playbook might help Landry Jones who didn't play well in a 31-24 win over Utah State.
"I'm concerned with the way everybody played." Stoops said. "That's my job to be concerned and try work practice in a way to help you improve. But I've seen Landry play a good number of games now. I have great confidence in him, the worker he is, the competitor he is. He's going to continue to grow and play well."
up on us. Jamell (Fleming) one time got beat on a bump-and-run fade route. But the rest of the night Jamell broke up four or five passes, has an interception and 10 tackles. But that's the life of a DB. You can do everything great all night and have one bad play and it
In his opening statement Stoops said there were a lot of positives on offense.
position to make some plays," Stoops said. "A couple of times we were get our back turned to the quarterback and not make a play. That shouldn't happen. You've got to be in position to play the ball."
"We ran the ball really well most of the night, although there were some occasions we were getting three or four yards that we felt the way they were playing us
"A few times Landry aborted protection when it was there and got a little bit hurried or rushed for whatever reasons. Landry is a sharp guy, a smart guy and has
we should have been getting eight or nine," Stoops said. "Those are things we're trying to work on.
sticks out to everybody.
played a lot. I'm sure he'll get back in the swing of things, see it and continue to make good, solid improvement."
"But I've seen these guys all make these plays before. They were in position to make them which is a plus. You have to be able to finish on a few of them and play the ball better."
Defensively the Sooners allowed 421 total yards but 320 came on 12 plays.
"Another time or two we bit on a stop route and they turned
"In the secondary we were in
MLB
Minnesota eases past Royals 10-3
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MINNEAPOLIS — Jim Thome hit another towering homer, Delmon Young drove in four runs and the Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 10-3 on Tuesday night to take their largest AL Central lead in 10 days.
Francisco Liriano (13-7) raised his second-half record to 7-0 in 10 starts, giving up seven hits and two runs in seven easy innings. J.J. Hardy had three RBIs for the Twins, who scored six times in the third against Brian Bannister (7-12) and moved $4\frac{1}{2}$ games ahead Chicago in the division race.
The White Sox lost to Detroit 9-1, ending their seven-game winning streak. The Twins have won five straight, 10 of their last 12 and 33 of 45.
After one-run decisions in eight of their last nine games, winning six of those tight ones, the Twins were eager for a breather. That's exactly what they got, thanks to Young and Hardy at the bottom of the lineup.
Manager Ron Gardenhire was able to take some of his regulars out early, and newly recalled relievers Glen Perkins and Pat Neshek worked an inning apiece.
The Royals lead the majors with 53 one-run games, just ahead of the Twins' 49.
Bannister lasted only 2 2/3
innings. All seven runs against him
scored with two outs, with Jason Kubel, Young and Hardy delivering the RBIs in the third. After tailing off following his torrid July, Young bounced back in a big way.
Thome has been steady all season long.
Just seconds after the White Sox score flashed final, he went deep in the sixth inning on a 3-2 count to make it 10-2. This was Thome's 22nd homer of the season, estimated by the team's media relations staff at 452 feet. It tied him with Frank Robinson for eighth place on the career list with 586.
The ball soared over right field and past the American flag, traveling to almost exactly the same place his estimated 480-foot shot landed in Monday's game against the Royals. Thome has four home runs in his last three games.
Josh Fields hit his first homer for the Royals after hitting 31 in stints with the White Sox over the last four seasons, and Alex Gordon made a diving catch in left field to steal a hit from Orlando Hudson for the first out of the fateful third inning.
After a little prompting from the Target Field crowd, Thome stepped out of the dugout and waved to the fans.
But that was about all the Royals had to be happy about. They fell to a season-high 24½ games out of first place and a season-high 24 games under .500 (57-81).
MLB
Phillies inches into NL East lead
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHILADELPHIA — Placido Polanco hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Florida Marlins 8-7 Tuesday night to move into first place in the NL East.
The Phillies moved a half-game ahead of Atlanta, which lost 5-0 in Pittsburgh. The two-time defending NL champions hadn't been in first place since May 30. They're seeking their fourth straight division title.
Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez and Shane Victorino each hit a solo homer for the Phillies, who were seven games behind the Braves on July 22.
After the Marlins rallied to tie it at 7 in the eighth, the Phillies answered with two outs in the bottom half. Victorino blooped a single to center off Jose Veras (2-2). He stole second and scored on Polanco's liner to right.
Ryan Madson (5-2) got the last four outs to earn the win.
Phillies starter Joe Blanton allowed four runs — two earned — and six hits in 6 1/3 innings.
Mike Stanton homered for the third straight game for Florida. Marlins starter Chris Volstad gave up five runs and nine hits in five innings.
A crowd of 43,841 was the 113th straight sellout at Citizens Bank Park, and fans did some scoreboard watching in case the Phillies weren't paying attention. When the Pirates took a 1-0 lead over the Braves in the seventh inning at Pittsburgh, fans clapped. They cheered louder when it became 3-0 minutes later.
Down 7-4, the Marlins rallied against three relievers with help from the sloppy Phillies in the eighth.
Stanton led off with a homer against Jose Contreras. With two outs, Brad.
Uggla walked, Gaby Sanchez fled out to end the inning.
Jimmy Rollins, batting fifth for the second straight game instead of his usual leadoff spot, hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom half. Ibanez then tripped in a run to make it 7-4.
Down 3-1, the Phillies used the long ball to take the lead.
Ous and Brad Davis on second, Emilio Bonifacio singled. Davis was held at third, but he scored on right fielder Jayson Werth's throwing error. Bonifacio advanced to
Associated Press
Fans did some scoreboard watching in case the Phillies weren't paying attention, clapping when the Pirates took a 1-0 lead over the Braves.
Ibanez hit an opposite-field
Chacin (8-9) has been stellar down the stretch, turning in his fourth straight outing in which he has surrendered two earned runs or less.
Cincinnati dropped its third straight, but still maintained a six-game lead over St. Louis, which lost to Milwaukee 4-2.
The player teammates refer to as "CarGo" also showed off his
Led by Gonzalez's breakout season, the Rockies have climbed back into the thick of the wild card race. They're now $4 \frac{1}{2}$ games behind Atlanta.
second on the throw, got balked to third by J.C. Romero and scored on Madson's wild pitch to tie it at 7.
arm as well, racing over in left to scoop up a ball, twirl and fire a strike to second to nip Brandon Phillips as he tried to stretch a single into extra bases in the fifth
Rollins lined an RBI single for a 1-0 lead in the second.
Blanton left after walking Bonifacio in the seventh. Antonio Bastardo came in to face Logan Morrison, who lined an RBI double to center to cut it to 5-4. Morrison advanced to third on second baseman Chase Utley's throwing error. But Chad Durbin came in and retired Hanley Ramirez from a foul pop. After Dan
Rollins followed Howard's 27th homer with a single. After he stole second, Ibanez singled him in for a 5-3 lead.
Howard's opposite-field shot off Volstad was his sixth homer off the righty. He's 11 for 23 against him.
MLB
Gonzalez's homer in the opening inning was his 32nd of the season and gave him 100RBIs. He's in prime position to challenge for the NL Triple Crown, leading in average (.340), taking over the top spot in RBIs and vaulting into a third-place tie with Joey Votto and Mark Reynolds in homers.
Cubs starter Carlos Silva (10-6), who made his first start since Aug. 1, was tagged for six runs on nine hits in five innings. In his previous start at Colorado, he left after recording only one out with an abnormal heart rate. Silva underwent a surgical procedure called cardiac ablation to correct the problem a week later. He returned after two rehab starts for Class A Peoria, but was far from regaining his stuff that helped him win his first eight decisions of the season.
Tyler Colvin drove in two runs on two hits for the Cubs.
Helped by Blanton's fielding error, the Marlins scored two unearned runs to take a 2-1 lead in the third.
Rockies defeat Reds to extend win streak
DENVER — Carlos Gonzalez hit a three-run homer, Jhoulys Chacin pitched six strong innings and the rolling Colorado Rockies beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-3 on Tuesday night for their fifth consecutive win.
CHICAGO — Michael Bourn had three hits and three RBIs, Brett Wallace hit his first career home run, and the Houston Astros beat the Chicago Cubs 7-3 on Tuesday night.
MLB
Bourn's bat leads Astros past Cubs
Associated Press
Bourn also scored twice for the Astros who won for the 12th time in 16 games.
Astros starter Nelson Figueroa (5-2) pitched five innings to earn the victory. He allowed three runs on six hits. He struck out five and walked three. Figueroa was backed by four scoreless innings from the Houston bullpen, which allowed only one hit.
Please join us for
Pancakes to fight Parkinson's
Saturday, September 11, 2010 8:00a.m.-11:00a.m.
All You-Can-Eat Pancakes by Chris Cakes Our cost is $4/person Please be generous in your contribution.
Delta Chi Fraternity House 1245 West Campus Road Lawrence,KS
Open to the public. Come enjoy breakfast prior to the KU vs Georgia Tech football game.
Sponsored by: $ \Delta X $ Fraternity
Proceeds to benefit:
Parkinson Foundation of the Heartland
8900 State Line Rd, Ste 320 • Leawood, KS 66206
913/341.8828 • www.parkinsonheartland.org
Proceeds to benefit:
Parkinson Foundation OF THE HEARTLAND
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