Tuesday August 18 Local Sports

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Nelson Cruz continued his climb up the all-time leaderboard with two home runs and the Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 4-1 on Monday night, as you heard on AM-1300 KGLO. Devin Smeltzer (2-0) picked up the win in relief of opener Matt Wisler for Minnesota. Cruz tied Mark Teixeira for 55th on the all-time home run list. Rookie Kris Bubic (0-3) surrendered two runs on four hits and four walks in 4 1/3 innings for the Royals. Hunter Dozier homered in the ninth inning to end Minnesota’s shutout bid. The Twins wrap up their homestand with a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers. Tonight and Wednesday night are 7:10 starts, with the pre-game starting at 6:30 on AM-1300 KGLO. Thursday is a 6:10 start with the pre-game at 5:30 on KGLO.

IOWA CITY — Iowa athletic director Gary Barta says the loss of the football season and other fall sports will prove costly to the athletic department. The Big Ten announced last week it was cancelling the football season along with other fall sports but left open the possibility of a football season in the spring.

“We anticipate lost revenue of approximately $100 million and an overall budget deficit of between $60-75 million and are working hard to find solutions”, said Barta. “These decisions will be very challenging.”

He says the Big Ten Conference and the Iowa athletics department staff will work diligently on the winter and spring sport seasons.

“We’ve learned a lot about the virus since March,” added Barta. ” It’s critical we find answers to the health and safety concerns that led to the shutdown of our fall sports.”

UNDATED (AP) — A total of 3,114 football games in NCAA’s three divisions have been canceled or postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. According to Associated Press research, 496 Football Bowl Subdivision games are off. That number is 776 for the Football Championship Subdivision. Included in those numbers are 101 matchups between FBS and FCS teams. A total of 858 Division II games are off. The number is 1,085 in Division III.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The NCAA will likely decide in mid-September whether to start the college basketball season on time or have a short-term delay due to the coronavirus pandemic. NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt said in a statement that mid-September will likely be the first of many decisions about the 2020-21 season. Gavitt said the NCAA has developed and studied contingency plans in case the season cannot be started on Nov. 10.

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — The interior of Minnesota’s offensive line has been in frequent flux in recent seasons. Pat Elflein has now taken the full tour. After another year of mostly blocking in the middle, the Vikings have made more changes. Elflein has moved to right guard, a “group decision” by him and the coaches. He was the starting center in his first two seasons and the left guard in 2019. Garrett Bradbury has returned for his second season at center to provide stability. Aviante Collins and Dakota Dozier are competing for the starting spot at left guard.