Greensboro, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - Alexa Scimeca and Christopher Knierim lead the pairs competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships after winning the short program Thursday. The duo set a record for the championship with 74.01 points. Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier are second with 68.38 points. Two-time U.S. champions Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir, who split last May, competed with different partners. Castelli and Mervin Tran are in third place with 64.24 points while Shnapir and DeeDee Leng stand eighth with 55.03. .com) - Colorado may be ahead of the Vancouver Canucks in the Western Conference standings, but they are a club that the Avalanche may want to avoid in the playoffs. .C. -- Only two Syracuse teams have won their first 20 games, and C.
http://www.cheaplakersjerseysauthentic.com/. According to bodog.ca, Cleveland moved up to grab the best odds to win the Larry OBrian trophy at 4-1 on Friday. By comparison, the Miami Heats odds plummeted from 3-1 favourites before LeBron left, to 50-1. . Red Sox outfielder Jonny Gomes, the bandleader of the beard brigade during Bostons run to the 2013 World Series title, said he will be shaving his off before spring training so that he can file it "in the archive" with his memories of the teams improbable championship. . - Diego Fagundez scored his team-leading 13th goal of the season in the 76th minute to lift the Revolution to a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Crew on Saturday night that kept New Englands playoff hopes alive. MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Twins got a lot of help in snapping a skid against the New York Yankees. Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli made a throwing error in the 11th inning that allowed Josh Willingham to score from second base, giving Minnesota a 2-1 victory on Saturday. With the bases loaded, Trevor Plouffe hit a dribbler to reliever Matt Thornton (1-1). The left-hander flipped it to Cervelli for the forceout at home. Cervelli then tried for the double play but his throw sailed way over the head of first baseman Mark Teixeira and Willingham raced home with the winning run. "Well take a win any way we can," said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, who was ejected in third inning after arguing from the dugout. "They had to make a play and threw it away." Cervelli wished he would have held onto the ball because Plouffe was blocking his throwing lane to first. "Its bad. We dont want to end the game like that, especially myself," he said. "Next time Ive got to make a little clear, talking about my vision to first base. If I dont have it, I have to just eat the ball." Pinch-hitter Chris Colabello doubled off the right field wall to lead off the 11th, missing a game-ending homer by inches. The victory snapped a seven-game home skid against the Yankees and was just Minnesotas fourth win against New York in 17 games at Target Field. Brian Duensing (2-2) pitched around a Carlos Beltran single in the 11th. Yankees starter David Phelps had retired 11 straight before Willingham snapped an 0-for-14 skid with a homer to left that tied the game at 1 in the seventh inning. Before Willinghams drive, Phelps had only allowed one baserunner to reach second base. In addition to his home run, Willingham also saw the whacky final play unfold as he ran from second to third, and, eventually, home. To him, a win is a win for the struggling Twins. "Theyre all pretty,&quuot; he said.dddddddddddd "That play is typically not one to end a game on, but today it was good enough to get us a win, I guess." Ichiro Suzuki stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch with two outs in the fifth before coming home on Cervellis single to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. Yohan Pino held the Yankees to one run over six innings, but Minnesota couldnt put together enough offence to give the soft-tossing 30-year-old rookie his first win. After both starters turned in strong outings, two of baseballs hottest bullpens took over. Coming into Saturday, Minnesotas relievers had a 1.78 ERA in their last 18 games while New Yorks pen had a 1.66 ERA in their last eight. Five Twins relievers held the Yankees to three hits over five innings of relief. The winning run charged to Thornton was unearned. Even though he pitched well, Phelps was mad at himself for even letting the game be decided by the bullpen or a crazy play at the end. "Were out there grinding and theres going to be games where we dont score a lot of runs," he said. "Thats why its frustrating for me to go out and give up a leadoff home run in the seventh. Just put up a zero there and we can put that game away with our bullpen." Cervelli was a late addition to the lineup after regular catcher Brian McCann was scratched with a sore foot. NOTES: Despite the fact that Derek Jeter has helped knock Minnesota out of the playoffs four times, Twins fans gave the retiring Yankees shortstop a standing ovation during a pregame ceremony. The Twins presented Jeter with the second base bag used during the final game played at the Metrodome. ... X-rays on McCanns sore left foot were negative. ... Twins rookie Danny Santana has only taken light swings as he rehabs from a deep bone bruise in his left knee. ... Minnesotas Ricky Nolasco (5-6, 5.49 ERA) faces Hiroki Kuroda (5-6, 4.08) in Sundays series finale. ' ' '
