Sports Briefs September 14, 2010
Baseball
The night he died, rookie Los Angeles Angels player Nick Adenhart pitched the best game of his brief major league career, throwing six scoreless innings as his proud father and thousands of cheering fans looked on.
Hours later, the 22-year-old rising star was killed when the car he was riding in collided with a minivan driven by a man whose blood-alcohol level, police said, was nearly three times the legal limit.
Opening statements begin today in the trial of Andrew Thomas Gallo, 23, the man accused of driving drunk and causing the crash that killed Adenhart and two friends, 20-year-old Courtney Stewart and 25-year-old Henry Pearson, as they were on their way to a dance club to celebrate. A fourth passenger was critically injured in the April 9, 2009, crash, but survived.
• Down to only two fully healthy outfielders for their playoff push, the Cincinnati Reds acquired utilityman Willie Bloomquist from the Kansas City Royals for either a player to be named or cash.
• Anthony Fernandez pitched seven shutout innings late Sunday and the Everett AquaSox beat the Spokane Indians 6-1 in the third and deciding game of the Northwest League championship series.
American League
Rays 1, Yankees 0, 11 inn.: At St. Petersburg, Fla., Reid Brignac homered on a full count pitch leading off the bottom of the 11th to send Tampa Bay Rays past New York.
Athletics 3, Royals 1: Bobby Cramer won his big league debut to lead visiting Oakland over Kansas City.
Orioles 4, Blue Jays 3, 11 inn.: Luke Scott singled in the winning run in the 11th inning, and host Baltimore beat Toronto.
National League
Mets 1, Pirates 0, 10 inn.: Pinch-hitter Nick Evans singled home the winning run off Chan Ho Park in the 10th, giving host New York a win over Pittsburgh.
Reds 7, Diamondbacks 2: Jay Bruce homered in each of his first two at-bats to lead host Cincinnati past Arizona.
Braves 4, Nationals 0: Derek Lowe set a career high with 12 strikeouts and combined with Billy Wagner on a six-hitter to lead host Atlanta over Washington.
Phillies 11, Marlins 4: At Miami, Carlos Ruiz matched a career-high with four RBIs Philadelphia beat Florida.
Astros 4, Brewers 2: Brett Myers became the eighth pitcher in 90 years to throw six or more innings in 30 consecutive starts and host Houston beat Milwaukee.
Cubs 5, Cardinals 1: Jeff Samardzija pitched shutout ball in his first major league start this season and drove in a run to lead visiting Chicago past St. Louis.
Padres 6, Rockies 4: At Denver, Miguel Tejada's four RBIs helped San Diego beat Colorado.
Football
Montana State freshman Aleksei Grosulak of Billings has been named the Big Sky Conference defensive player of the week.
Grosulak had seven total tackles - five solo - with an interception, sack and two tackles for a loss in Montana State's 23-22 loss at Washington State on Saturday.
• The University of Montana football team tumbled from first to sixth in Football Championship Subdivision polls.
Montana lost 35-33 at then-unranked Cal Poly on Saturday. Cal Poly is now ranked 17th by The Sports Network and 18th by FCS coaches.
Montana State moved up to 22nd in both polls after Washington State had to rally from a 22-7 deficit to edge the Bobcats 23-22.
Defending national champion Villanova moved up to the top spot in the Sports Network poll while the coaches picked Appalachian State No. 1.
- The Associated Press