The week in sports: Twins host Texas as Lynx play in Dallas

[MUSIC PLAYING] CATHY: Hey, did anybody catch the Twins game against the Milwaukee Brewers? The heat, by the way, was horrible. And the humidity in Milwaukee yesterday, it was like 100 degrees. Players, obviously, must have been feeling it.

Catcher, Ryan Jeffers, fell on his way to first base in the 10th inning. The play gave the Twins a brief lead. Brewers came back. Here to talk about all that and what's next in sports, our resident sportscast, Wally and Eric.

Wally Langfellow is the creator of Minnesota Score Magazine and the host of 10,000 Takes sports talk show on radio and TV. Eric Nelson is the co-host of that show and the Minnesota Vikings reporter for CBS Sport's Eye on Football show. Is it hot enough for you guys? That's what I want to know.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Isn't that a typical Minnesota thing to say?

CATHY: Well, of course. I'm in Minnesota.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Isn't it hot enough for you? I know. I just thought I'd throw it out there.

CATHY: [LAUGHS] Yes.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yes. It's plenty hot.

ERIC NELSON: Like airconditioning today, Cathy.

CATHY: Yeah. It's a little bit better than it was, Eric. Say, let's talk about the Twins because that really was a hot game in Milwaukee last night.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah. As you said 100 degrees in Milwaukee. And the Twins felt the heat. They certainly felt it as they went into extra innings. They had to use Jhoan Duran, two straight innings in relief. Not really used to it. He isn't.

The Brewers come away with the win. And not only did they win the baseball game, but they sweep the series, the brief two-game series. And it sets the Twins back to a 4 and 1/2 game lead over Cleveland as we speak right now. The Twins will now host the Texas Rangers, another team that is on top of their division.

The Texas Rangers lead the American League West. Game 1 tonight is at 6:10 PM, an odd, early start. So make a note of that if you are following the Twins tonight. But the Rangers have been slipping lately. They've lost six in a row now.

As I mentioned, Twins still hoping to stay on top of the division. And still in first place in the American League Comedy Central, as I call it. One other note. Twins' fans hoping to see Shohei Ohtani pitch at Target Field in September. They'll have to wait at least until next year, maybe longer.

Shohei suffered a torn ligament in his pitching elbow in the second inning of the first game of yesterday's doubleheader against Cincinnati. He did return to play in game 2 and batted, but he will not pitch again this year. They don't know if he'll have surgery. That's a huge blow for Major League Baseball.

Obviously, he's going to be a free agent at the end of the season. He was lined up to get maybe the richest contract in sports history. We shall see how that all unfolds. But pitching for Shohei is done for 2023, unfortunately.

CATHY: Hey, Eric, what about the Minnesota Lynx? What are they doing?

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah. Will we see more fireworks tonight? They take on the Dallas Wings down in Texas. This is a rematch of Tuesday's game in Minneapolis. Now, Minnesota won that 191 to 86. But that was the sidebar because three fans sitting just one row off the court got ejected for heckling Wings player, Satou Sabally, after she suffered an ankle injury.

Now, Sabally eventually got up-- this is late in the game-- sank two free throws then blew kisses to the Lynx fans. Earlier in the game, Sabally received a technical for shoving Lynx player, Bridget Carleton. After the game, Sabally took to the Twitterverse, or I guess we now call it the Xverse, and said there is a disgusting fan base in many.

So we're going to see if there's any more acrimony tonight. Will it spill over into this game in Texas? I think it's important for both teams, though, to not let their emotions get the best of them. Minnesota's 16 and 17, currently the number 6 seed in the WNBA.

And the Wings are 18 and 15. Dallas is the 4 seed. Remember in the WNBA, the top 8 seeds make the playoffs, so the Lynx need to stay focused. Cathy, they had a horrible start to the season. We were talking lottery.

And now, they're in the playoff mix. So I think they just need to put their emotions, keep them in check, and not get caught up in what will be a hostile Dallas crowd. That's my prediction.

CATHY: As you say, the Lynx have to focus. Are we still doing joint practices, Wally, with our opponents?

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah. And this, obviously, will be the last one because this is the end of training camp. So they've got Arizona in town. They are doing the joint practices right now. And they will play Arizona on Saturday. That is a noon kickoff, by the way, at US Bank Stadium.

The other news, of course, well, the Vikings 0 and 2 in preseason. And then as you look at Saturday's game, is Kirk Cousins going to play? How much will he play if he does? The regular season opener is September 10, against Tampa Bay in Minnesota.

One other note, Vikings-related. First round draft pick, wide receiver, Jordan Addison, he has agreed to a plea deal for his 140-mile an hour jaunt down I-94 in Saint Paul in his Lamborghini back in late July. Addison, who is on a $13.7 million contract will pay a whopping sum of $686 fine for his punishment. The plea does drop the reckless driving misdemeanor. So I guess he's off the hook.

CATHY: Thank you for that update. Say, tell me about Trey Lance, Eric.

ERIC NELSON: Yeah. He's with the San Francisco 49ers, as we speak. He's a quarterback, but he's been demoted to third on the depth chart behind Brock Purdy, who played at Iowa State, and Sam Darnold. Now, the 49ers gave up a boatload of draft choices, three first-round picks to Miami. So they could move up and select Trey Lance, third, overall, in round 1 of the 2021 draft. They thought he was their meal ticket, their next Joe Montana, if you will.

But now, Lance might be on the trading block. And he's from Marshall, Minnesota. He played at North Dakota State. And while with the Bison, Lance was 19 and 0. North Dakota State won two FCS titles. And there's going to be a lot of rumors swirling about Trey Lance maybe coming back to Minnesota, obviously, because he grew up here in the land of lakes. Now, we'll

See. Do the Vikings have an interest in him? He's young. He's mobile. I think people are piling on him. Cathy, he hasn't played that well. But last season, he suffered a serious ankle injury and missed most of the 2022 campaign.

I think we have to give him a chance. He's got a bazooka for an arm. The people in San Francisco say, the accuracy on his throws is an issue. But do the Vikings have an interest in him? That's the key because I think San Francisco is going to put him on the trading block, and you might get him for a fairly cheap price.

CATHY: Well, wouldn't he be a good backup to Kirk Cousins?

ERIC NELSON: Well, I think that's a great question because right now, it's Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall. And I'm not sure anybody is convinced that if Kirk Cousins goes down, the Vikings are going to be able to put somebody out on the field and not skip a beat.

But to be fair to Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall. Trey Lance hasn't proven it yet. He's a young guy. He played only a couple of seasons at North Dakota State, but he's got the skill set. I think if he can be coached up and maybe get a change of scenery, I hope it happens for him. Because I interviewed him once after a game at Target Field when North Dakota State played there, and he's an engaging young guy. And so I'm pulling for him.

CATHY: Hey, guys. Thank you so much. Have a good weekend.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: You too, Cathy.

ERIC NELSON: Thanks a lot Cathy.

CATHY: Wally Langfellow is the founder of Minnesota Score Sports Magazine, the co-host of 10,000 Takes sports show. Eric Nelson is the other co-host of that show and the Vikings reporter for CBS Sports Radio's Eye on the NFL. Well, I tell you what. We're going to get out of here. This has been quite a week for the Minnesota Now team.

Our senior producer is Aleesa Kuznetsov. Our producers are Alanna Elder, Ellen Finn, and Gretchen Brown. Our technical director, Alex Simpson. Thank you, Alex, for making sure that we're on the air. We appreciate that.

Our theme music was composed by Minnesota-based musicians Aby Wolf and Joe Horton. We so appreciate you. Thank you so much. If you have an idea, maybe a comment, or a question about our show, send a voice memo to minnesotanow@mpr.org. Have a good day.