Twins’ outfielder Jason Kubel has hit safely in his last eight games, in 12 of his previous 13 and 18 of his 21 games overall.
Franciso Liriano, 1-3 with a 7.40 ERA, is expected to start for the Twins tomorrow night at home against Tampa Bay’s Wade Davis, 2-2 and 2.73 ERA.
MLB all-star voting begins tomorrow online and at ballparks across the country including Target Field.
Bert Blyleven came in at No. 4 on the “Sports’ Most Dubious Records” list in the April 25 issue of the Sporting News Magazine. The former Twins pitcher gave up 50 home runs in 1986. No. 1 on the list is Tampa Bay’s 26 consecutive losses starting out as an NFL expansion franchise.
The same issue includes a profile on Minnesota native and Wisconsin Badger Jon Leuer who says his bucket list consists of “skydiving, attend the Masters and play Augusta, win an NBA championship.”
Chris Halvorsen, the Gophers’ basketball walk-on from Henry Sibley High School, is the nephew of former Gophers’ starting forward Larry Overskei. Halvorsen played his college freshman year at Valparaiso before coming home and sitting out last season as a Gopher transfer. An engineering major, he will have three seasons of eligibility with the Gophers.
Halvorsen played at Henry Sibley with Badgers’ forward Mike Brusewitz. Halvorsen, 6-8, 190, was second team all-state as a high school senior and one of the best defensive players in Minnesota.
St. Thomas softball coach John Tschida, who coached his 500th game for the Tommies last week, is a cousin of major league umpire Tim Tschida. His record at St. Thomas is 436-65.
The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference announced Augustana’s Matt Braithwaite as the 27th annual Dr. William Britton Scholar-Athlete Award winner and Minnesota Duluth’s Rebecca Anderson as the 25th annual Willis R. Kelly Scholar-Athlete Award recipient. Award winners are determined by vote of NSIC faculty representatives.