Rick Majerus Passes Away at 64

Rick Majerus, who had only one losing record in 25 seasons of coaching college basketball, has died. He was 64.

Majerus had a history of heart problems and said last month that he would not be returning to Saint Louis University because of his cardiac condition.

John Huntsman, a longtime friend of Majerus, confirmed in a statement that Majerus died of heart failure in a Los Angeles hospital.

Majerus had an overall record of 517-216 at four colleges, including a stellar 323-95 mark at Utah from 1989-2004. In five seasons at Saint Louis the Billikens were 95-69. He began his career at Marquette, his alma mater, in 1983 and also coached at Ball State from 1987-89.

As someone that grew up on the outskirts of Milwaukee, I'll always remember Majerus as the colorful coach of Marquette back in the early 1980s. 

He was a coach that was always had a great quote or two.  My favorite was after a big win at Louisville when he was at Marquttee and in th postgame news conferece he was so ecited, he said he was "going to eat every rib in Lousiville."

He probably did.

Wildcard Wednesday in Baseball

Both National and American League wild card races will go down to the last day of the regular season after Tampa Bay and Boston won on Tuesday while St Louis caught up with faltering Atlanta.

If the teams finish tied after their regular season finales on Wednesday, a one-game playoff will decide who advances to the postseason later this week.

Crucial games tonight include:

Boston at Baltimore

N.Y. Yankees at Tampa

Philadelphia at Atlanta

St. Louis at Houston.

I predict we will have one, if not two playoff games tomorrow.  All the games will be on ESPN channels.

Cardinals Beat Brewers to Avoid Sweep

Albert Pujols went 4-for-4 with a homer Thursday as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Brewers 5-2 to salvage the series finale.

St. Louis moved back within four games of the NL Central-leading Brewers, who shot themselves in the foot by hitting into four double plays.

Chris Carpenter (8-8) gave up 10 hits in eight innings, and Fernando Salas got his 22nd save in 25 chances with a perfect ninth.

Pujols took extra batting practice before the game and it paid off. He hit a first-inning solo homer, his 28th, just over the wall in center, had a run-scoring single in the fifth and added two more singles.

Yovani Gallardo (13-8) lasted just five innings for Milwaukee, which finished its road trip 5-1.

Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday missed a second straight game with a strained lower left side and back, while the Brewers' Ryan Braun was given the night off so he can keep his left leg healthy for the stretch run.  The Brewers will continue to monitor Braun's left leg.

Wolf Pitches a Gem, Brewers Up By 5

Randy Wolf pitched eight solid innings to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 5-1 victory over the host St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday which helps extend their NL Central lead to five games.

Wolf (9-8) gave up one run and five hits to win his third straight decision and help the Brewers win their sixth straight game.

Prince Fielder and Corey Hart had two RBIs apiece for Milwaukee.

Fielder had a sacrifice fly in the first and a run-scoring double in the third. Hart had a two-run single in the ninth.

Yuniesky Betancourt added an RBI single in the third for Milwaukee.

Francisco Rodriguez pitched the ninth for the Brewers in a non-save situation.

Albert Pujols hit a sacrifice fly in the first and Jake Westbrook (9-6) allowed three runs and six hits in eight innings for St. Louis.

Brewers Take Game 1 in Series With Cardinals

It was a true team effort for the Milwaukee Brewers last night.

Casey McGehee doubled in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning, and Milwaukee widened its lead atop the NL Central with a 5-3 triumph over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Yuniesky Betancourt hit an insurance sacrifice fly for the Brewers, who have won five straight and 12 of their last 13 contests. They are now four games in front of the second-place Cardinals. Corey Hart belted a two-run homer for the visitors from Milwaukee.

David Freese had two hits and an RBI for the Cardinals, who missed a chance to possibly grab the opener of this three-game series. In the ninth, Rafael Furcal singled to center with two outs off LaTroy Hawkins (1-0). Daniel Descalso then hit a bouncer to second base, but Betancourt booted the ball, as Furcal moved into scoring position. Albert Pujols couldn't come through as he flied out to right.

Nyjer Morgan singled leading off the 10th against Octavio Dotel (0-1), and Prince Fielder's base hit to center put runners at the corners with one out. McGehee then double to right and Betancourt's fly ball to center made it a two-run cushion.

John Axford notched his 33rd save of the year by working around a Lance Berkman one-out double.