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Burnes and Hader combine for second no-hitter in Brewers franchise history (AUDIO)

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Corbin Burnes

With his pitch count at 115 after eight innings, Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell knew that Corbin Burnes has several more very important innings ahead of him.  It’s why Counsell removed Burnes, despite his not allowing a hit and allowed closer Josh Hader to nail down his 31st save and preserve a combined no-hitter in a 3-0 win over the Cleveland Indians on Saturday night.

It’s the second no-hitter in Brewers franchise history and the first since Juan Nieves no-hit the Baltimore Orioles on April 15, 1987.

It’s been a remarkable year for Burnes, who continues to make a strong bid for the National League Cy Young Award.  He opened the season with 58 strikeouts before he walked his first batter, which set a Major League record.  He finished with 14 strikeouts on Saturday night.  A single walk in the seventh inning is the only thing that prevented Burnes and Hader from combining for a perfect game.

The Brewers pushed their record to a franchise best 33 games over .500.  Their magic number to clinch the National League Central is down to seven. [Read more…]

Stricker unveils Captain’s picks for U.S. Ryder Cup team

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Steve Stricker – WRN File Photo

U.S. Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker filled out his 12-man roster for the upcoming event Sept. 24-26 at Whistling Straits.

Patrick Cantlay, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas were automatic qualifiers for the 43rd Ryder Cup.  Stricker selected Daniel Berger, Harris English, Tony Finau, Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth as his Captains picks.

The U.S. team will have six Ryder Cup rookies: Schauffele, Berger, English, Morikawa, Cantlay and Scheffler.

The European Team will be finalized after the final round of this week’s BMW PGA Championship outside of London.  Padraig Harrington is the European captain.

Packers get roster to 53, ready to start the season against the Saints

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The Green Bay Packers trimmed their roster to 52 players on Tuesday and will officially add punter Corey Bojorquez to bring the roster to 53-players on Wednesday.  The Packers used a fifth round draft pick on J.K. Scott in 2019 but his inconsistency cost him his job.  The Packers sent a sixth round pick to the Rams for Bojorquez and get a 2023 7th round pick in return.

The Packers kept nine offensive lineman, but not one of them was Ben Braden.  Braden had been competing for a guard spot during training camp and saw time at tackle as well.  The Packers decided to keep tackles Dennis Kelly and Josh Nijman instead.

On the defensive side, the Packers kept undrafted rookie defensive lineman Jack Heflin.  The Packers have now kept at least one undrafted rookie on the week one roster for 20 straight years. [Read more…]

Big Ten Conference updates forfeiture policy

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The Big Ten is joining the rest of the Power Five conferences in instituting a forfeiture policy regarding COVID-19 for the upcoming season.

Effective today, the conference has determined that if one of its member institutions is unable to play a conference contest due to COVID-19, that contest shall be declared a forfeit and will not be rescheduled.  That contest shall be considered a loss for the team impacted by COVID-19 and a win for its opponent in the conference standings.

If both of the two competing teams are unable to participate in a scheduled Conference competition due to COVID-19 and as a result the competition is unable to occur on the calendar day in which it is scheduled, the competition shall be considered a “no contest”.

Click here to view the 2021-22 Big Ten Conference Forfeiture Policy.

Crosby wants to keep going (AUDIO)

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Mason Crosby – WRN File Photo

Mason Crosby is about to enter his 15th NFL season, turning 37-years-old in September.  He ranks 20th all-time in scoring (1,682 points) and he has no plans to call it a career anytime soon.

Crosby’s current contract runs through the 2022 season and didn’t offer any ideas on how much longer he wants to keep playing, but he admitted how he feels mentally and physically will help him make his decision.

Crosby has hit 38 of 40 field goals over the last two seasons, including a perfect 16 for 16 mark last season alone.  After missing four field goals in a game against Detroit in 2018, Crosby has gone on to miss just four times in the last 47 games. [Read more…]

Brewers acquire veteran reliever John Axford

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The Milwaukee Brewers have acquired right-handed reliever John Axford from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for cash considerations.  Axford will join the team in their series opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates tonight.

The 38-year-old Axford spent five seasons (2009-13) with the Brewers where he went 21-19 with a 3.35 ERA and 106 saves in 268 appearances.  He is the all-time franchise leader in saves for a single season with 46 back in 2011 and ranks second in franchise history to Dan Plesac (133) in career saves.  His 43 straight saves without a blow save in 2011 is a franchise record.

Axford hasn’t pitched in the Major leagues since 2018 and started as a studio analyst for Blue Jays television this season.  He then pitched for Team Canada in the Olympic qualifier before Toronto signed him to a Minor League contract on June 24.  He went 1-0 with a 0.84 ERA and 2 saves in 9 relief appearances at Triple-A Buffalo, holding opponents to a .061 batting average.

Axford has a career record of 38-34 with a 3.87 ERA and 144 saves in 543 games (1 start) during 10 Major League seasons with Milwaukee, St. Louis, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Colorado, Oakland, Toronto and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

 

 

 

Bucks acquire draft rights to two players in draft night deal with Pacers

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The Milwaukee Bucks have acquired the draft rights to Sandro Mamukelashvili and Georgios Kalaitzakis, who were selected by the Indiana Pacers with the 54th and 60th overall picks in the 2021 NBA Draft, in exchange for the draft rights to Isaiah Todd, who was selected by the Bucks with the 31st overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft.  The Bucks also receive two future second round draft picks to complete the trade.

Mamukelashvili, a 6’11, 240-pound-pound forward from Seton Hall, was named the 2020-21 co-Big East Player of the Year, earned First Team All-Big East honors and was named an AP All-America Honorable Mention after averaging 17.5 points (2nd in Big East), 7.6 rebounds (5th in the Big East) and 3.2 assists (12th in the Big East) per game as a senior last season.  The Republic of Georgia native was also a top-five finalist for the 2020-21 Karl Malone Award, which honors the top power forward in college basketball, and was one of only two players [Read more…]

Rodgers signs reworked deal

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Aaron Rodgers – WRN Photo

Green Bay Packers MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers is signing his reworked deal, allowing him to leave after the 2022 season if he so chooses.

The new contract voids the 2023 year in his original deal and saves the Packers around $10 million in 2021 cap space.

Rodgers counts #37.2 million against the cap and  by guaranteeing his $14.7 million base salary, the Packers gained the extra cap space.

Rodgers voiced his displeasure with the Packers front office this offseason and considered retiring amid his standoff.

It means Rodgers current deal expires after 2022.

Adams says there’ll be no home town discount

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Davante Adams (WRN Photo)

Contract talks have stalled between wide receiver Davante Adams and the Green Bay Packers but he made it clear on day one of training camp that there’ll be no discount for the home team.

Adams told reporters on Wednesday that he expects to be the NFL’s highest-paid receiver after being named first-team All-Pro last season.  Adams set a Packers franchise record with 115 receptions and tied another with 18 touchdowns.

“That’s not going to happen,” Adams said about accepting a discount.  “It’s not about being a baby, but what other profession do you take less than what you have earned?  It’s not how it goes.

‘I’ve earned the right to be paid highest in the league.’

Four receivers in the NFL average at least $20 million a year.  That group consists of DeAndre Hopkins, Amari Cooper, Keenan Allen.  Hopkins deal is worth $27.25 million a year.

Adams said they had all offseason to get a deal done and now that training camp has started, he’s ready to put his focus on football.  It is possible the two sides could reach a deal during the season.  The Packers made David Bakhtiari the highest paid offensive tackle back in November.

 

Cobb returning to Green Bay

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Randall Cobb (Photo Courtesy of Mike Clemens)

It would appear the Green Bay Packers are trying to keep Aaron Rodgers happy, at least for this season.  The Packers are bringing back Rodgers close friend Randall Cobb, who turns 31-years-old next month.

The Packers will send a 2022 sixth-round draft pick to the Houston Texans for Cobb.  To make the deal work, the Texans have agreed to pay roughly $3 million of Cobb’s guaranteed $8.25 million deal.

The Packers let Cobb walk after the 2018 season.  Cobb had 38 receptions for 383 yards and two touchdowns that season, but played in just nine games due to injury.  He signed as a free agent with Dallas and played in 2019 for the Cowboys and last year in Houston.

Cobb was the Packers second round pick in 2011 and has become a good friend with Rodgers.

Cobb’s return is questionable to those outside the organization after the Packers used a third-round draft pick on Clemson slot receiver Amari Rodgers.

Cobb does bring leadership to the locker room and is well respected by his former teammates.