For the third time in as many series since the All-Star break, the rubber game eluded the grasp of the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies fell to the San Diego Padres 3-2 in San Diego yesterday afternoon. The Rockies jumped to an early lead when Marco Scutaro’s single scored Eric Young Jr. in the top of the first inning, but the Padres responded with a run in their half of the first. DJ LeMahieu’s RBI double in the second inning gave the Rockies a 2-1 edge which lasted only until the fourth inning, when San Diego tied it again. In the seventh, the Padres scored off Rockies relievers Adam Ottavino and Matt Reynolds to take the lead for good. The Rockies are now 3-6 since the break. They head to Arizona to start a three-game series with the Diamondbacks tonight. ESPN Radio 1410 has the action with pregame coverage at 8:05 and first pitch at 8:40.

Husker running back Rex Burkhead received more preseason plaudits over the weekend as he was named to the watch list for the Walter Camp Award. The Walter Camp Football Foundation names 50 players to watch for their award given to the college football Player of the Year. Burkhead had previously been named to the watch list for the Doak Walker Award. The senior from Plano, Texas enters the 2012 season as the twelfth leading rusher in Nebraska history.

(Hilary Winter, Nebraska Sports Information) The Nebraska volleyball team was honored with the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2011-12 season announced by the AVCA on Friday. The Huskers were one of 533 teams earning the award, setting a new all-time high for the honor. The award was initiated in the 1992-93 academic year and it honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that display excellence in the classroom during the school year by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average on a 4.0 scale.

(July 21, North Platte, NE) Lincoln County Ag Society added a different twist to the 2012 Sandhills Shootout by hosting the URSS
(United Rebel Sprint Series), IMCA Northern SportMods and IMCA Hobby Stocks. Taking home the big money and recognition were Brian Herbert of Dodge City, Kansas, Shane Stout of North Platte, and Tiffany Bittner of Norfolk.

Hometown driver Tom Belsky led the first three laps for the sprint car race until his car flipped off and over corner one. He was uninjured. That opened the door Brian Herbert to take charge of the race. Like other gunslingers from Dodge City, Herbert was the last man standing at this shootout. Teammates Mike Saathoff of North Platte and Tommy Lee Williams of Hershey made the locals proud by finishing second and third. Wheatridge, Colorado driver Mark Walinder took the fourth spot. Former area Mini-Sprint driver John Webster of North Platte rounded out the top five.

Despite drivers from out of the area coming to compete, the battle at the front of the IMCA Northern SportMod A Feature was all too familiar as Shane Stout duked it out with Cozad driver Colton Osborn. Despite the challenge, Stout never backed down and led every lap with consistency en route to his biggest payday. Max Harder of Blue Springs, current point leader at Beatrice Speedway, finished in the third spot. Rookie Dillon Schultz of North Platte took home fourth. Fifth place went to Hays, Kansas driver Trenton Kleweno. Osborn, Stout, and Denny Egge of Kearney were the heat race winners, and Bryan Herrick of Curtis took the pole dash win.

As the first female to ever take an A Feature win at the Sandhills Shootout, Tiffany Bitter made history in the IMCA Hobby Stock A
Feature. Bittner raced hard alongside of Campbell hotshoe and fellow heat race winner Dillon Thompson for much of the race. Accidents slowed the race, including a scary rollover by Anthony Martin of Wilcox, who won the A Feature the night before in McCook. He walked away, but the car will need repairs before it can run again. Despite the battles and cautions, there was no stopping the determination of this gal as she earned every lap in this race. When she took the checkered flag, the crowd was on their feet in appreciation of her performance. Cody Graham of Hays, Kansas finished the night in third spot. Austin Davis of Benkelman was the first regular to finish, taking fourth, just ahead of last week’s winner Brady Weinmann of Arnold. Belvidere driver Robby Marsh was the other Hobby Stock heat race winner for the night. Another point leader from Beatrice Speedway, Adam Armstrong, was the winner of the pole dash.

Friday

BASEBALL
American League
Baltimore at Cleveland, 6:05 p.m.
Chicago White Sox at Detroit, 6:05 p.m.
Seattle at Tampa Bay, 6:10 p.m.
Toronto at Boston, 6:10 p.m.
Minnesota at Kansas City, 7:10 p.m.
N.Y. Yankees at Oakland, 9:05 p.m.
Texas at L.A. Angels, 9:05 p.m.
National League
Atlanta at Washington, 6:05 p.m.
Miami at Pittsburgh, 6:05 p.m.
San Francisco at Philadelphia, 6:05 p.m.
L.A. Dodgers at N.Y. Mets, 6:10 p.m.
Milwaukee at Cincinnati, 6:10 p.m.
Chicago Cubs at St. Louis, 7:15 p.m.
Houston at Arizona, 8:40 p.m.
Colorado at San Diego, 9:05 p.m. (LISTEN LIVE on ESPN Radio 1410)

Saturday

BASEBALL
American League
Texas at L.A. Angels, 3:05 p.m. (LISTEN LIVE on ESPN Radio 1410)
Chicago White Sox at Detroit, 3:05 p.m.
Baltimore at Cleveland, 6:05 p.m.
Toronto at Boston, 6:10 p.m.
Seattle at Tampa Bay, 6:10 p.m.
Minnesota at Kansas City, 6:10 p.m.
N.Y. Yankees at Oakland, 8:05 p.m.
National League
Atlanta at Washington, 12:05 p.m., 1st game
L.A. Dodgers at N.Y. Mets, 12:10 p.m.
San Francisco at Philadelphia, 3:05 p.m.
Atlanta at Washington, 6:05 p.m., 2nd game
Miami at Pittsburgh, 6:05 p.m.
Milwaukee at Cincinnati, 6:10 p.m.
Chicago Cubs at St. Louis, 6:15 p.m.
Houston at Arizona, 7:10 p.m.
Colorado at San Diego, 7:35 p.m. (LISTEN LIVE on ESPN Radio 1410)

MOTORSPORTS
Formula One, German Grand Prix Qualifying, Hockenheim, Germany, 7 a.m.
NHRA, Mopar Mile-High Nationals Qualifying, Morrison, Colo., 1:45 p.m.
IndyCar, Edmonton Indy Qualifying, Edmonton, Alberta, 2 p.m.
NASCAR Camping World Trucks, American Ethanol 225 Qualifying, Joliet, Ill., 2:35 p.m.
NASCAR Camping World Trucks, American Ethanol 225, Joliet, Ill., 7 p.m.

OTHER EVENTS
Golf
Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, The Open Championship, Lytham St. Annes, England (LISTEN LIVE on ESPN Radio 1410)
PGA Tour, True South Classic, Madison, Miss.
USGA, U.S. Junior Amateur, Stratham, N.H.
USGA, U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur, Daly City, Calif.
Cycling
ASO, Tour de France, 19th stage, Chartres, France

Sunday

BASEBALL
American League
Chicago White Sox at Detroit, 12:05 p.m.
Toronto at Boston, 12:35 p.m.
Seattle at Tampa Bay, 12:40 p.m.
Minnesota at Kansas City, 1:10 p.m.
Baltimore at Cleveland, 2:05 p.m.
N.Y. Yankees at Oakland, 3:05 p.m.
Texas at L.A. Angels, 7:05 p.m. (LISTEN LIVE on ESPN Radio 1410)
National League
L.A. Dodgers at N.Y. Mets, 12:10 p.m.
Milwaukee at Cincinnati, 12:10 p.m.
Miami at Pittsburgh, 12:35 p.m.
Atlanta at Washington, 12:35 p.m.
San Francisco at Philadelphia, 12:35 p.m.
Chicago Cubs at St. Louis, 1:15 p.m.
Colorado at San Diego, 3:05 p.m. (LISTEN LIVE on ESPN Radio 1410)
Houston at Arizona, 3:10 p.m.

MOTORSPORTS
Formula One, German Grand Prix, Hockenheim, Germany, 7 a.m.
NASCAR Nationwide, STP 300 Qualifying, Joliet, Ill., 10:35 a.m.
NHRA, Mopar Mile-High Nationals Qualifying, Morrison, Colo., 12 p.m.
IndyCar, Edmonton Indy, Edmonton, Alberta, 1:45 p.m.
NASCAR Nationwide, STP 300, Joliet, Ill., 2 p.m.

OTHER EVENTS
Golf
Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, The Open Championship, Lytham St. Annes, England (LISTEN LIVE on ESPN Radio 1410)
PGA Tour, True South Classic, Madison, Miss.
USGA, U.S. Junior Amateur, Stratham, N.H.
USGA, U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur, Daly City, Calif.
Cycling
ASO, 20th (final) stage, Tour de France, Paris

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England (AP) – The second round of the British Open is under way at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. Australian Adam Scott tied a course record yesterday with a 6-under-par 64 that left him one shot ahead of Paul Lawrie, Zach Johnson and Nicolas Colsaerts.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Andrew Luck will be under center when the Indianapolis Colts open training camp next week. The Colts have signed the first overall pick in this year’s NFL draft to a four-year, $22.1 million package. Luck completed 70 percent of his passes for 3,170 yards, 35 touchdowns and just nine interceptions for Stanford last season.

ST. LOUIS (AP) – St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter is expected to be back for the 2013 season after surgery Thursday to repair a nerve injury in his right shoulder. The Cardinals say rehabilitation should take two to three months and Carpenter should be able to have a normal offseason after being unable to pitch this year.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – The Nashville Predators have six more days to match Philadelphia’s 14-year, $110-million offer sheet to defenseman Shea Weber. The offer comes a few weeks after blueliner Ryan Suter left Nashville for a 10-year contract with Minnesota. GM David Poile (poyl) repeated previous statements that the Predators intend to match any offer, but says the team will need to “review and evaluate” the Flyers’ offer and “all of its ramifications” before making a final decision.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Tampa Bay 6, Cleveland 0
Detroit 5, L.A. Angels 1
Baltimore 4, Minnesota 3
Seattle 6, Kansas City 1
Boston 3, Chicago White Sox 1
Oakland 4, N.Y. Yankees 3

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Atlanta 3, San Francisco 2
Cincinnati 7, Arizona 6
N.Y. Mets 9, Washington 5
Chicago Cubs 4, Miami 2
San Diego 1, Houston 0

The North Platte First Nationals seniors and juniors begin play today in their district tournaments. The juniors have the benefit of home-field advantage, and the momentum from having won seven of their last eight regular-season games. They take on Lexington tonight at 8:30 at Bill Wood Field, following the other first round matchup of Kearney and Hastings. If North Platte wins, they’d play Twin Cities on Saturday night. The senior tournament takes place at the classic setting of Hastings’ Duncan Field. The First Nationals seniors have also played well of late, winners of six of their last nine contests. They face Scottsbluff at 5 PM tonight, with Kearney and Hastings facing off in the other first round game. Action continues in the double-elimination tournaments throughout the weekend and into the beginning of next week.

The Colorado Rockies are well out of playoff contention, but they’d like to be able to stay out of the National League West basement. This weekend, they take on the one team that will be battling to avoid that dubious honor with them. The Rockies start a three-game series in San Diego against the Padres tonight. The struggling Rockies are coming off a 2-4 homestand out of the All-Star Break. They’ll send Drew Pomeranz to the mound. The rookie southpaw has mixed memories of his first start at San Diego’s PetCo Park back on May 7 – he hit his first big league homer but had to leave the game early after being hit in the leg with a line drive. He’s 0-2 against the Padres this year, but with an ERA of an even 3.00. ESPN Radio 1410 has all the action tonight. Stay up late on a Friday night for the pregame show at 8:30 and the first pitch at 9:05.

As a junior, Husker running back Rex Burkhead was a semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award, given annually to the nation’s best running back. This season, he’s one of 52 backs across the nation to make the preseason watch list for the honor. Burkhead rushed for 1,357 yards and scored 17 total touchdowns last season, earning first-team All-Big Ten accolades. He enters his senior season twelfth on the all-time rushing yards list at Nebraska. Burkhead also fits the criteria for the Walker Award off the field. The Walker Award is the only major postseason award that requires all candidates to be in good academic standing and on track to graduate on time. Burkhead fits that bill and then some. He was a first-team academic All-American last season, owns a 3.388 grade point average, and is on target to graduate in December.

DENVER (AP) — The Denver Nuggets have re-signed free agent center JaVale McGee to a multiyear contract, fulfilling one of their top offseason priorities.

Masai Ujiri, Denver’s executive vice president of basketball operations made the announcement Wednesday night. Yahoo Sports reported the deal was for $44 million over four years.

The 24-year-old 7-footer averaged 11.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.16 blocked shots in 61 games last year for the Washington Wizards and the Nuggets, who acquired him in the Nene deal in mid-March.

McGee had two huge games against the Los Angeles Lakers in the playoffs, prompting coach George Karl to say: “I don’t think I’ve ever coached a guy like this. He has the moves of a 6-6 player.”

Earlier this summer, the Nuggets also re-signed free agent point guard Andre Miller.