Stanzel’s Sports Takeout — BREAKING NEWS: 6-26-23.
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OG Takeout subscriber Chris Long of KSTP fit FORTY SEVEN Taylor Swift songs into his Saturday night sports wrapup. Chris accounted for two of the seven balls my foursome lost on No. 10 at Eagle Valley last week.
Well reported story by The Rink Live’s Jess Myers on Orono parents running another successful (by most accounts) coach out of town. They did the same to former Wild player Mark Parrish prior.
NHL Draft week is upon us. I’m not sure Nashville bars can stock enough beer…I wouldn’t expect a very busy week for the Wild (free agency begins Saturday).
Florida and LSU play a winner-take-all game in the College World Series tonight; Gators won 24-4 yesterday.
Six months from today, Christmas will be over and we'll have four more months of winter to look forward to...
Timberwolves Bring Back Naz Reid
It looked difficult a few months ago to see how the Wolves could bring back Naz Reid, but they did just that yesterday, retaining the big man with a three-year, $42 million contract. Reid was one of the Wolves’ most valuable players until a late season injury; the playoffs could have been a different story with Reid in the lineup, in my opinion.
Reid, who was undrafted, has a player option where he could get a new contract in two years. After the All-Star Break, only one NBA player scored more points per minute than Reid (Joel Embid). Reid scores more points per minute than NBA MVP Nikola Jovic in that span, per ESPN Stats & Information Research.
Twins Take Series in Detroit
It seems like a lot longer than a week since the Tigers dominated the Twins (winning three of four) at Target Field. The Twins took two of three in Detroit this weekend, have taken four of five overall and are suddenly above .500 (40-39) with a two-game lead in Cleveland, their only competition in the AL Central.
Royce Lewis scored the tying run in the eighth and knocked in the winning run in the 10th in Sunday’s 6-3 win over the Tigers.
All is not great in Twins land - Byron Buxton could be headed to the injured list with back spasms. Reliever Jose De Leon, who has already had Tommy John surgery, left the mound awkwardly during warm-up on Saturday and has been officially diagnosed with a flexor muscle strain. He said he felt an “electric shock” in his arm.
It’ll be a great test the next three days for the Twins, who visit National League-leading Atlanta, which already has 50 wins. Takeout friendly 6:20 p.m. starts the next two nights before a brunch-worthy 11:20 a.m. game Wednesday.
Loons Squander Two-Goal Lead at Real Salt Lake; Aurora Clinch Division Title
The way the Loons struggle to score, they can’t squander leads like they did in Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Real Salt Lake. Minnesota led 2-0 with 11 minutes left - Emanuel Reynoso scored his first goal since returning - but Real Salt Lake scored twice, including Justen Glad’s game-tying goal eight minutes into injury time and just before the final whistle.
The Loons step outside MLS play for a friendly with Germany’s FC Kaiserslautern (I like the FCK billboards) Wednesday at Allianz Field. Minnesota hosts Portland on Saturday.
The Aurora, meanwhile, clinched the Heartland Division title with a 2-0 win over Bavarian United. Minnesota is 10-0-0 with two games to play. They’re at Green Bay on Thursday and at home Saturday versus Chicago City.
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