SCOREBOARD
Area events
Thursday
BASKETBALL
Minnesota Timberwolves Summer Caravan, Washington Educational Services Building, Brainerd, 9 a.m.
NORTHWOODS LEAGUE BASEBALL
Brainerd Blue Thunder at St. Cloud, 7:05 p.m.
LEGION BASEBALL
North Subdistrict 6 Division I tournament
At Mills Field, Brainerd
Winners bracket, 1 p.m.
Losers bracket, 3 p.m.
Losers bracket, 7 p.m.
South Subdistrict 6 Division II tournament
No. 2 Staples-Motley at No. 1 Bertha, 6:30 p.m.
VFW BASEBALL
North Subdistrict 6 tournament
Adamson Field, Brainerd
Championship, 11 a.m.
Championship, 1:30 p.m. (If necessary)
TV-Radio
Radio guide
WYRQ-FM (92.1), KBLB-FM (93.3), KFML-FM (94.1), KKIN-FM (94.3), KSKK-FM (94.7), KFGI-FM (101.5), KLKS-FM (104.3)
WCCO-AM (830), KWAD-AM (920), KKIN-AM (930), KLTF-AM (960), KVKK-AM (1070), 3WI-AM (1270), KVBR-AM (1340), KLIZ-AM (1380), KNSP-AM (1430).
Thursday
CYCLING
7:30 a.m., VERSUS: Tour de France, stage 18
GOLF
7 a.m., TGC: European PGA Tour, Russian Open Championship, first round
11 a.m., TNT: Senior British Open Championship, first round,
Noon, TGC: Nationwide Tour, Children's Invitational, first round
2 p.m., TGC: PGA Tour, Canadian Open, first round
5:30 p.m., TGC: LPGA, Evian Masters, first round
SOCCER
6 p.m., ESPN: MLS, All-Star Game, MLS All-Stars vs. West Ham United
WNBA BASKETBALL
8:30 p.m., ESPN2: Detroit at Houston
Baseball
American League
East Division
W L Pct GB
Tampa Bay 59 41 .590 -
Boston 60 43 .583 1/2
New York 56 45 .554 3 1/2
Toronto 49 51 .490 10
Baltimore 48 51 .485 10 1/2
Central Division
W L Pct GB
Chicago 57 43 .570 -
Minnesota 55 46 .545 2 1/2
Detroit 52 49 .515 5 1/2
Kansas City 45 57 .441 13
Cleveland 44 56 .440 13
West Division
W L Pct GB
Los Angeles 62 39 .614 -
Oakland 52 49 .515 10
Texas 52 50 .510 10 1/2
Seattle 38 63 .376 24
Tuesday's Games
N.Y. Yankees 8, Minnesota 2
Toronto 10, Baltimore 8
Oakland 8, Tampa Bay 1
Detroit 7, Kansas City 1
Chicago White Sox 10, Texas 2
L.A. Angels 3, Cleveland 2
Boston 4, Seattle 2
Wednesday's Games
Tampa Bay 4, Oakland 3
N.Y. Yankees 5, Minnesota 1
Chicago White Sox 10, Texas 8
Detroit 7, Kansas City 1
L.A. Angels 14, Cleveland 11
Boston 6, Seattle 3, 12 innings
Toronto 2, Baltimore 1, 5 innings, susp., rain
Thursday's Games
Toronto at Baltimore, comp. of susp. game, 11:35 a.m.
Toronto (Halladay 11-7) at Baltimore (D.Cabrera 6-5), after susp., game
Tampa Bay (Garza 8-5) at Kansas City (Meche 7-9), 7:10 p.m.
National League
East Division
W L Pct GB
Philadelphia 54 46 .540 -
Florida 53 47 .530 1
New York 53 47 .530 1
Atlanta 47 53 .470 7
Washington 38 62 .380 16
Central Division
W L Pct GB
Chicago 58 42 .580 -
Milwaukee 57 43 .570 1
St. Louis 57 45 .559 2
Cincinnati 50 53 .485 9 1/2
Pittsburgh 47 54 .465 11 1/2
Houston 46 55 .455 12 1/2
West Division
W L Pct GB
Arizona 50 50 .500 -
Los Angeles 49 52 .485 1 1/2
Colorado 45 58 .437 6 1/2
San Francisco 41 58 .414 8 1/2
San Diego 38 64 .373 13
Tuesday's Games
Florida 4, Atlanta 0
Philadelphia 8, N.Y. Mets 6
Cincinnati 4, San Diego 3, 11 innings
Pittsburgh 8, Houston 2
Milwaukee 4, St. Louis 3
Colorado 10, L.A. Dodgers 1
Arizona 9, Chicago Cubs 2
San Francisco 6, Washington 3
Wednesday's Games
Cincinnati 9, San Diego 5
Pittsburgh 8, Houston 7
Colorado 5, L.A. Dodgers 3
Atlanta at Florida, 7:10 p.m.
Philadelphia at N.Y. Mets, 7:10 p.m.
Milwaukee at St. Louis, 8:15 p.m.
Chicago Cubs at Arizona, 9:40 p.m.
Washington at San Francisco, 10:15 p.m.
Thursday's Games
Philadelphia (Moyer 9-6) at N.Y. Mets (Ol.Perez 6-6), 11:10 a.m.
Washington (Redding 7-4) at San Francisco (Cain 5-8), 2:35 p.m.
San Diego (Hensley 1-0) at Pittsburgh (Herrera 0-1), 6:05 p.m.
Florida (Olsen 6-4) at Chicago Cubs (Zambrano 10-4), 7:05 p.m.
Milwaukee (Sheets 10-3) at St. Louis (Wellemeyer 8-4), 7:15 p.m.
League leaders
AMERICAN LEAGUE
BATTING-Kinsler, Texas, .325; Pedroia, Boston, .321; Mauer, Minnesota, .319; ARodriguez, New York, .318; Morneau, Minnesota, .317; Damon, New York, .315; Ordonez, Detroit, .314; Dye, Chicago, .314.
RBI-Hamilton, Texas, 98; Quentin, Chicago, 76; Morneau, Minnesota, 73; MiCabrera, Detroit, 71; Youkilis, Boston, 68; JGuillen, Kansas City, 66; BAbreu, New York, 64.
HOME RUNS-Quentin, Chicago, 26; Sizemore, Cleveland, 25; Hamilton, Texas, 22; Dye, Chicago, 21; ARodriguez, New York, 21; Giambi, New York, 20.
STOLEN BASES-Ellsbury, Boston, 35; ISuzuki, Seattle, 34; Upton, Tampa Bay, 30; BRoberts, Baltimore, 27; Kinsler, Texas, 25; Rios, Toronto, 25; Sizemore, Cleveland, 24.
PITCHING (11 Decisions)-Matsuzaka, Boston, 11-1, .917, 2.63; CLee, Cleveland, 13-2, .867, 2.29; ESantana, Los Angeles, 11-4, .733, 3.37; Lester, Boston, 8-3, .727, 3.20; Saunders, Los Angeles, 12-5, .706, 3.05; Padilla, Texas, 11-5, .687, 4.41; Mussina, New York, 13-6, .684, 3.26.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
BATTING-CJones, Atlanta, .369; Pujols, St. Louis, .352; Holliday, Colorado, .343; Berkman, Houston, .338; Theriot, Chicago, .328; Nady, Pittsburgh, .328; CJackson, Arizona, .308.
RBI-Howard, Philadelphia, 88; CaLee, Houston, 80; DWright, New York, 77; AdGonzalez, San Diego, 75; Berkman, Houston, 74; Teixeira, Atlanta, 73; Braun, Milwaukee, 72.
HOME RUNS-Howard, Philadelphia, 29; Dunn, Cincinnati, 29; Braun, Milwaukee, 25; Utley, Philadelphia, 25; Burrell, Philadelphia, 25; Uggla, Florida, 24; HRamirez, Florida, 23; Ludwick, St. Louis, 23.
STOLEN BASES-Taveras, Colorado, 42; Pierre, Los Angeles, 35; Bourn, Houston, 33; JReyes, New York, 33; Rollins, Philadelphia, 25; HRamirez, Florida, 23; Kemp, Los Angeles, 22; Victorino, Philadelphia, 22.
PITCHING (11 Decisions)-Lohse, St. Louis, 12-2, .857, 3.35; Parra, Milwaukee, 9-2, .818, 3.68; Volquez, Cincinnati, 12-3, .800, 2.49; Lincecum, San Francisco, 11-3, .786, 2.79; Sheets, Milwaukee, 10-3, .769, 2.88; Webb, Arizona, 13-4, .765, 3.11; Dempster, Chicago, 11-4, .733, 3.05.
Northwoods League
Second half
Through Tuesday
North Division W L GB
Thunder Bay 10 5 -
*Mankato 8 6 1.5
Rochester 8 7 2
Alexandria 8 8 2.5
St. Cloud 7 8 3
Brainerd 7 9 3.5
Duluth 5 9 4.5
South Division W L GB
Wisconsin 9 5 -
Eau Claire 7 6 1.5
Green Bay 8 7 1.5
Battle Creek 7 8 2.5
Waterloo 6 7 2.5
*Madison 7 9 3
LaCrosse 6 9 3.5
* First-half champion
Basketball
WNBA
Wednesday's Games
New York 80, Washington 73
Thursday's Games
Chicago at San Antonio, 11:30 a.m.
Phoenix at Sacramento, 1:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Indiana, 6 p.m.
Los Angeles at Connecticut, 6 p.m.
Detroit at Houston, 8:30 p.m.
Transactions
BASEBALL
American League
TAMPA BAY RAYS-Optioned SS Ben Zobrist to Durham (IL).
TEXAS RANGERS-Agreed to terms with RHP Matt Thompson and OF Clark Murphy.
National League
CHICAGO CUBS-Activated OF Alfonso Soriano and LHP Scott Eyre from the 15-day DL. Optioned INF-OF Micah Hoffpauir and RHP Kevin Hart to Iowa (PCL).
HOUSTON ASTROS-Optioned RHP Jack Cassel to Round Rock (PCL). Activated LHP Randy Wolf.
MILWAUKEE BREWERS-Purchased the contract of OF Jay Gibbons from Long Island (Atlantic) and assigned him to Huntsville (SL).
SAN DIEGO PADRES-Purchased the contract of LHP Wil Ledezma from Portland (PCL).
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS-Recalled C Steve Holm from Fresno (PCL). Optioned C Eliezer Alfonzo to Fresno. Activated INF-OF Dan Ortmeier from the 15-day DL and sent him outright to Fresno.
BASKETBALL
National Basketball Association
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS-Acquired G Jason Hart from Utah for G Brevin Knight.
MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES-Signed G Sebastian Telfair to a two-year contract.
NEW ORLEANS HORNETS-Signed G-F James Posey to a four-year contract.
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS-Signed G-F Nicolas Batum.
FOOTBALL
National Football League
BUFFALO BILLS-Signed LB Alvin Bowen.
CHICAGO BEARS-Agreed to terms with OT Chris Williams on a five-year contract.
CLEVELAND BROWNS-Placed WR Joe Jurevicius and OL Ryan Tucker on the physically-unable-to-perform list.
DALLAS COWBOYS-Signed CB Orlando Scandrick to a four-year contract.
GREEN BAY PACKERS-Signed OT Breno Giacomini, QB Matt Flynn and WR Brett Swain.
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS-Agreed to terms with OL Mike Pollak, DE Marcus Howard, TE Jacob Tamme, OL Steve Justice, RB Mike Hart and OL Jamey Richard.
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS-Agreed to terms with CB Brandon Flowers on a four-year contract and WR Sergio Joachim and WR Timon Marshall on two-year contracts.
MINNESOTA VIKINGS-Signed S Tyrell Johnson, QB John David Booty and C John Sullivan.
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS-Agreed to terms with WR Marques Colston on a three-year contract extension through the 2011 season.
OAKLAND RAIDERS-Signed WR Arman Shields and DE Trevor Scott.
ST. LOUIS RAMS-Agreed to terms with CB Justin King on a three-year contract.
SAN DIEGO CHARGERS-Released WR Eric Parker.
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS-Signed C Cody Wallace.
TENNESSEE TITANS-Agreed to terms with DL Jason Jones. Waived DE Bryce Fisher, LB Jerrell Freeman, WR Jason Rivers, DT Eric Taylor and QB Paul Thompson.
HOCKEY
National Hockey League
ANAHEIM DUCKS-Signed Randy Carlyle, coach, to a two-year contract extension through the 2010-11 season.
BOSTON BRUINS-Signed D Dennis Wideman to a multiyear contract extension.
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS-Named Mike Haviland assistant coach.
DETROIT RED WINGS-Signed F Darren Haydar and C Ryan Oulahen to one-year contracts.
PHOENIX COYOTES-Signed C Garth Murray to a one-year contract.
SAN JOSE SHARKS-Named Trent Yawney, Todd Richards and Jay Woodcroft assistant coaches and Corey Schwab goaltending development coach.
VANCOUVER CANUCKS-Re-signed F Ryan Shannon, F Rick Rypien, F Mike Brown, D Nathan McIver, D Zach Fitzgerald and D James Sharrow.
COLLEGE
DAVIDSON-Named Marlena Murphy women's assistant basketball coach.
FLORIDA STATE-Named Lonni Alameda softball coach.
MICHIGAN STATE-Named Damon Whitten director of hockey operations.
NORTH CAROLINA-Named Scott Forbes associate head baseball coach.
Fishing report
Outdoor News
BRAINERD/NISSWA AREA
Look for some evening walleye action in 20 to 30 feet at Gull Lake, North Long Lake, Pelican Lake, and Round Lake. Live bait rigs tipped with leeches, crawlers, or minnows are working best. Crappies are being found suspended along the established weed edges and sunfish are coming off the area's small lakes in 12 to 16 feet. Bass and northern pike also can be had on the deep weedlines.
LAKE MILLE LACS
East - Crankbaits or live bait rigs are producing some walleyes during the day on the 22- to 32- foot gravel and mud areas. Slip bobbers and leeches are working best during the evening hours on the 14- to 22- foot rocks. Muskie action has improved on the weedlines and shallow breaks with bucktails and topwater. Look for smallmouth on the rocks and under boat lifts.
West - Lindy Rigs and leeches or spinner rigs tipped with crawlers are providing daytime walleye action on the 26- to 32- foot mud areas. At night, slip bobbers and leeches are working best off the flats in 30 feet or more and on the shallow rocks. Look for smallmouth on the rock points and most weedlines in the bays are now holding northern pike and a few muskies.
LEECH LAKE AREA
Look for walleyes on the bars and shoreline breaks in 20 feet of water. Bottom bouncers and crawlers, Lindy Rigs and leeches, or a jig and minnow have all worked. There's some evening trolling action with Shad Raps or Minnow Raps in eight to 12 feet. Bass fishing has been excellent in most weedy bays and muskies continue to follow baits, but won't commit to them.
CASS LAKE AREA
Shad Raps have started producing walleyes at night on the bars of Cass Lake. The 12- to 15- foot breaklines of Cass and Pike Bay Lake also are giving up walleyes via leeches. The best perch reports are coming off the shallow sand and weed areas of Cass. Big Rice Lake and Kitchi Lake are worth noting for bluegills, while spinner rigs and minnows are triggering pike on Big Wolf Lake.
CROSBY AREA
Limits of trout are being caught from shore at Manuel Pit and from boats at Huntington Pit and the Pennington Chain. Some large pike have been taken in the Sagamore Pit and smallmouth bass action at Alstead has been excellent. The weed flats of Adney Lake and Bay Lake continue to hold pike, while bass remain active in the weeds of Horseshoe, Serpent, and Clearwater lakes. Panfish have bit best during the evening hours in 12 to 15 feet at lakes Mahnomen, Black Hoof, Cedar, Clearwater, and Bass. A few walleyes have been taken during lowlight periods in 20 to 24 feet at Serpent, Rabbit, and Pelican.
CROSS LAKE AREA
The points throughout the Whitefish Chain are providing steady walleye action during lowlight periods. Lindy Rigs tipped with redtails or crawlers have worked best. There's also a crankbait bite taking place at night.
HACKENSACK AREA
Trolling leeches, crawlers, or crankbaits has produced some walleyes on Ten Mile Lake during lowlight periods. Look for crappies and sunfish on the eight- to 12- foot cabbage beds of Birch Lake and Pleasant Lake. Bass action remains strong on the weed breaks of most lakes with plastics. The smaller lakes such as Baby, Little Boy, and Wabedo are producing muskies via white or black bucktails.
McGREGOR AREA
Tube jigs or minnows pitched under the floating docks on Big Sandy Lake and Lake Minnewawa has produced crappies.