In addition to getting hit all over the park, the Colorado defense would have three errors on the game. The Rockies were only able to score one more run before the ninth inning looking at a 13 run deficit. Playing through, the Rockies were able to score two more runs in the bottom of the ninth as Texas beats them by nine runs.

San Francisco’s pitching was solid throughout the game as the staff combined for a total of nine strikeouts. Despite the pitching, the Giants would only be able to muster up one run in the fourth and another in the sixth. The Mariners would defeat the Giants by a score of six to two.

Oakland pitching would be able to make some adjustments as they were able to keep the opposing bats quiet for five innings. Oakland would be able to tie the game in the fourth inning and pull together five more runs in the remainder of the game to defeat the Brewers by a score of seven to three.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Reds would be the first team on the board with their first run of the game. The Brew Crew would answer back with a run of their on in the bottom of the following inning. The Reds would go on to score on run in both the sixth and seventh innings to regain their lead. First baseman Joey Votto would have a homerun for the team in the sixth inning as the Reds went on to win by a score of three to one.

Royals starter Gil Meche looked rusty in his two innings allowing seven hits and four earned runs including a homer to Andre Ethier. Dodgers third baseman Casey Blake went 2-for-3 on the day with two batted in and a homer in the fifth. The Royals are now 4-3 on the season while the Dodgers moved to 2-3-1.

Indians lead off hitter and center fielder Michael Brantley went 2-for-2 with an RBI and a walk. Five Indians would knock in one run each. Sox second baseman CJ Retherford would hit a 2-run homer as part of the eighth inning surge. Right fielder Carlos Quentin went 2-for-3 and scored a run for the Sox who now stand at 3-3-2 while the Indians still do not have a defeat at 5-0-1.

Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro scored three runs on two hits and a walk including a homer. Catcher Robinson Chirinos knocked in two more runs with his 6th inning homer. The Cubs moved above .500 on the spring going to 4-3 while the Padres fell to 2-6.

Catcher Chris Snyder hit his first homer of the spring in the fourth inning which at the time gave the D-backs a 2-1 lead. Tony Abreu played third today, but continued to get on base going 2-for-3 scoring two runs. Angels DH Mike Napoli hit his third homer of the early spring for the Angels only run. The D-backs moved to 3-5 while the Halos fell to 2-4.

Your host Greg Esposito flies solo, once again, begging the question, “Will you change the damn name to the Sports Retorter already?”. It’s alright though, like Norm on Cheers, Greg likes it better without Vierra (Matt) around.

On this edition of the show, Greg shares a little pointless banter about Conan O’Brien and why American Idols Kara DioGuardi leans so close to Simon Cowell. One that dorky one minute of the show is over, he rants or raves about the idea that Darnell Dockett is the new face of the Arizona Cardinals franchise and and he asks the big question of the day; What players, coaches, teams and things do you hate most as a Phoenix sports fan? All that plus he takes a look at the listener mail from Tuesday’s show and welcomes in a surprise judge to rate his performance.

The show is fully interactive. Share your own thoughts in the comment section, take part in the rant or rave polls and compete for Oakland A’s Spring Training tickets by answering the “big question of the day” by voicemail, text or email.

It’s the Phoenix Sports Retorters, brought to you by [insert your company title here, honestly we're desperate]

Download audio file (phoenix_sports_retorters_podcast_3_11_10.mp3)

Your Turn to Participate in the Show:

Rant or Rave

Are you ranting or raving about Darnell Dockett as the face and voice of the Arizona Cardinals franchise?

The Big Question of the Day

Who is your most hated player, coach, team and thing as a Phoenix sports fan?

Your answer will be included in the “Phoenix’s Most Hated” tournament with the bracket being announced on Tuesday’s edition of the Phoenix Sports Retorters.

Call or text the show at (602) 492-4FANS (4326) or email the guys at PSR@Fanster.com with your answer. The best response wins tickets to a Oakland A’s Cactus League game this March, courtesy of our friends at On Air Sports Marketing, and will be played or read on next week’s show.

Having been out of the line-up following wrist surgery in January, the return of Leandro Barbosa to the court is being warmly welcomed. Though Barbosa’s been easing into practices with the team, building up strength in his right hand has been a slow and steady process. “I’m very hungry to come back and help my teammates. I don’t know if I’ll have the same minutes I used to have, but I’m just going to help the team. The bench is playing great, and I just want to add to that.”

Meanwhile Goran Dragic is also expected to make his first re-appearance after suffering a sprained ankle during last week’s match-up with the Clippers. Add to that a (hopefully) completely recuperated Steve Nash and the Suns appear ready to kick things up a few notches to dominate the rest of their season. Though the break saw OKC slide into the Suns’ fifth spot in the Western Conference, six of Phoenix’s next seven games will be played at the Purple Palace. Fingers crossed that the Suns will have more than a home court advantage pushing them into the playoffs; we can expect that a refreshed effort from the bench team will be the team’s upper hand.

When Kurt Warner retired after the Arizona Cardinals playoff loss to the New Orleans Saints, it meant that the team would not only be in search of a new starting quarterback, but also a new face of the franchise.

Everyone knew that the quarterback situation would be up in the air until training camp, but the new face of the franchise seemed like a lock.

After his breakout season in 2008 and with numerous endorsements, including the cover of EA Sports Madden NFL ‘10, Larry Fitzgerald would have seemed to be the odds-on favorite. If Vegas put prop best on things like this (I checked, unfortunately they don’t), Fitzgerald would have been the 1/1 favorite with everyone else a very distant second.

Sports are all about upsets, and like in Super Bowl III, a brash young man, not afraid to speak his mind is about to pull one.

Cards defensive end Darnell Dockett, or 9-0 as he likes to be called, has emerged as the new “voice” of the team.

When the Cardinals lost Anquan Boldin, Karlos Dansby and Antrel Rolle, who was there to comment? Darnell Dockett.

Need a comment on the trade for Kerry Rhodes? 9-0 is your man.

Wooing free agents to come to the desert and be part of the “Bird Gang”? Dockett has a few suggestions he’d like to share (Joey Porter seems to be his top priority.).

Since Warner’s retirement we’ve heard very little from most of the players on the team, Fitzgerald included. During that same time, Dockett hasn’t shied away from the spotlight. He’s done radio interviews locally and nationally. He’s been on CBSSports.com’s video show, along with sharing his uncensored opinions and offseason employment ideas via Twitter.

When the national media was ready to bury the Cardinals after Boldin, Dansby and Rolle all flew the coop last Friday, Dockett not only shared his truthful opinion on the moves, but was the first to defend his team and proclaim them still the team to beat in the NFC West.

With the bearded one under center, there was no question who the alpha “bird” was and there was no question what would come out of his mouth. Warner was a media relations director’s best friend. He gave thoughtful, insightful answers, rarely ruffled feathers (just let me know when the bird cliches are getting old) and rarely provided bulletin board material for the rest of the league.

If the current trend continues and 9-0 is the new face and voice of the franchise, the Cardinals are about to enter a brave new world, Darnell Dockett’s world. A world in which cliches and double speak aren’t welcome. One where those without confidence better not show up on Sundays, where winning is everything and freedom of speech is the only rule (as long as you’re a Cardinal).

Get excited, this isn’t your “same old Cardinals”. These birds have more attitude than the cast of Jersey Shore at 4 a.m. on a Saturday. It’s only appropriate that the new face of the team, is the same face that gave us one of the best pictures in team history.

Fitz may still have the most skills and endorsements, but it’s Darnell Dockett who has everyone’s attention.

But the Sun Devils haven’t had the best track record at the Pac-10 Tournament, which started in 1987 and took place for the next four years, before going on hiatus until 2002.

In fact, before last year’s run to the championship game, ASU was just 3-10 all-time in the Pac-10 Tournament, and two of those wins came in 1990, when the tourney was held on their home floor in Tempe. In the second incarnation of the tournament, the Sun Devils were 0-6 before last season.

This year, the Devils are the #2 seed, their highest ever in the Pac-10 Tournament. Their prior high seed was a #4, which happened twice–in 2003 when ASU was knocked off in their first game by Oregon, who went on to win the crown, and last year, when the Devils squandered a 15-point halftime lead in the championship game in a loss to USC.

The number two seed has done very well historically in the tournament, notching a 19-9 record overall, and three times has won the championship (Arizona in 1990 and 2002, and Washington in 2005).

Matt and Devin debate about the Suns’ toughness, as well as what/who motivated Amare’s trend toward that area. Was Robin Lopez a better influence for Amare than Shaq? Find out who you agree with, and send in your own opinion to sevenminutesorless@fanster.com.

S.M.O.L. is a Phoenix Suns podcast for the fans, by the fans, in seven minutes or less. Saturday features a full 24-minute shot-clock for the show, with a more in-depth look at the Suns, including responses to e-mail questions/comments from fans and listeners. If your comment/question is good, you could be asked to make an appearance on the show.

My Pro Day is about three weeks from now and I feel that I am more than ready to showcase my talents.

I have been training like the pros, and with a few pros, over at “Make Plays” in Phoenix. My focus here as of late has been speed drills, enhancing my ball skills, getting stronger, and more importantly honing my technique and trying to perfect my craft.

I am more than confident about my opportunity to get to an NFL camp; however my ultimate goal is to be on the final 53 Man roster. I will achieve my goals by staying hungry, healthy, and humble.

My hope for this blog is to give fans an inside look at what it’s like trying to make it in the NFL. I plan to blog at least once a week and plan to post pictures and videos of my experience. I hope that you join me on this journey and I look forward to interacting with all those interested. Here’s to reaching goals and staying determined even in the face of doubters.

(Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

The Sun Devils, despite losing their first round Pac-10 Tournament game to USC a few days earlier, were hopeful they’d get in to the field. They were 19-12, 9-9 in the Pac-10, and had improved their win total from the previous season by 11.

They’re name was never called. Instead, their arch-rival, the Arizona Wildcats, a team the Sun Devils had beaten twice during the regular season, and a team that had less regular season wins and a worse conference finish did get in to extend their streak of NCAA Tournament appearances to 24 in a row. ASU was left to play in the NIT, where they advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to Florida.

Many members of that 2008-08 Sun Devils’ squad pointed the finger at that first round loss to USC in the Pac-10 Tournament that kept Arizona State from dancing that year. “If we would have beat them, I think we would have been in”, then-junior Jeff Pendergraph said at the time.

When asked if a win over USC would have punched the Devils’ ticket, Coach Sendek said “Yes. I absolutely do. I think if we would have won one more game anywhere along the trail, it would have been very difficult to keep us out. I think we were one game away in a lot of different directions, winning one more game, having the cards fall another direction in a conference here or there. I think you can reasonably say we were one game away, here, there or somewhere else.”

Fast forward two seasons. The Sun Devils are 22-9, good enough for a 2nd place finish in what everyone around the country is calling a “down year” for the Pac-10. Yet, there’s a strangely familiar feeling for the team as they prepare for their first round Pac-10 Tournament game tonight against the Stanford Cardinal (13-17, 7-11) at Staples Center in Los Angeles. It’s the feeling that ASU needs to win this game against Stanford to get into “The Big Dance”.

“We’re not dumb,” senior point guard Derek Glasser said on Tuesday. “We hear things, we watch ESPN, we read newspapers, so we know what’s going on. I think guys are as focused as they’ve been all year and we’re really preparing as well as we have all year for this week coming up.”

More to the point, Glasser was asked how many wins the Sun Devils need this weekend to feel confident about earning a berth. “I think if we get to the championship, I think we’re for sure in,” he said. “With one win, I think we’re gonna be sitting there Sunday like we were sophomore year (2008) and hoping and praying. I know if we lose on Thursday, we’re not in.”

Junior guard Ty Abbott was very much aligned with Glasser’s thoughts. “We know we have to go to the Pac-10 Tournament and get wins,” he said earlier this week.

So, the journey starts tonight for the 2nd-seeded Sun Devils, playing a Stanford team that they swept during the regular season. In the teams’ first meeting in Tempe, Abbott caught fire for 29 points as ASU breezed to an 88-70 win, leading by as many as 37 points in the process. The 88 points by ASU were their highest offensive output of the Pac-10 season, and 2nd-most overall this season. The Devils scored 104 in a 39-point win against San Francisco in November.

Two weeks ago in Palo Alto, it was ASU senior big man Eric Boateng who inflicted the damage on the Cardinal, hitting all 11 of his field goal attempts and scoring a career-high 24 points in the Sun Devils’ 68-60 win.

Defensively, the Devils have to concern themselves once again with Landry Fields. The senior, who earlier this week was named to the All-Pac-10 First Team, has averaged 20.5 points per game vs. ASU this season. Fields led the conference in scoring at 22.2 points per game. But ASU can’t sleep on Jeremy Green, the sophomore guard who averaged 16.9 points per game to rank 6th in the conference. Green has not shot well against ASU this season, hitting just 25.7% (9 of 35) from the field.

Key for ASU will be getting Boateng involved early. His performance in Palo Alto was no accident. Once he established position inside, he was successful because of his strength advantage against Stanford bigs Jack Trotter and Andrew Zimmerman. In 6 career games against Stanford, Boateng is shooting 95% (19 of 20) from the floor.

….no one was watching the poor displays of defense from both teams during the game (especially TSN).

This aspect of the match-up between the Coyotes and Canucks was the difference in the outcome the game. Both teams had major lapses in their defense that were exploited for goals. The goals that the Coyotes allowed were not only stoppable they were the major reasons that the game went to overtime and into the shootout.

This game should have never reached overtime.

The defensive problems that the Coyotes displayed stemmed from either the defensive pairings not being familiar with one another or that the days off between games effected their abilities to play at a high level of stingy defensive hockey on the ice. Due to the sloppy play overall, I’m going to say the latter.

It’s not a cause for concern….yet…but these defensive lapse should be noted.

Here’s an example of the defensive problems:

Watch here as Vancouver Canucks forward Henrik Sedin (#33) slides in front of Ilya Bryzgalov, pulls up a chair, orders dinner/drinks, reads the newspaper and then score Vancouver’s first goal of the game….without a single Coyotes defender anywhere near him.

Other things to note about last night’s game:

- Taylor Pyatt Scored his 100th Career goal

- According to the official NHL scorers, the Coyotes did not allow a shot on goal for the final 10 minutes (approximately) of the third period

- Fiddler was a goal short of a Gordie Howe Hat Trick

- The Canucks month long, 14 game road trip from hell ended in Phoenix.

- The Coyotes start a 4 game road trip in the Southeastern US Saturday in Carolina.

- The next three Coyotes games WILL NOT be televised on local TV. After those three games, all remaining games on the schedule will be televised on Fox Sports Arizona.

Game Highlights:

Coach Tippett’s Post Game Presser (Courtesy of PhoenixCoyotes.com):

Photos from the game:

http://canucks.nhl.com/club/gallerylanding.htm?id=14507&intcmpid=van-more-post-phxgallery

Game Summary:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/GS020989.HTM

Event Summary:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/ES020989.HTM

Play by Play:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/PL020989.HTM

Faceoff Stats:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/FC020989.HTM

Shootout Stats:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/SO020989.HTM

Download a copy of the game (MP3 format) from the Team 1040 in Vancouver for a Canucks perspective of the game. The MP3’s will be available until the next Canucks game so download them now!

http://www.team1040.ca/shared/podcast_rss.php?play=canucks

Just a week after the sporting world realized that the shirtless actor riding a horse backwards was a former Arizona State University football player (oh and he played in the NFL too), his media whirlwind continued on Wednesday as he was a guest on the Ellen Degeneres show, seen locally on Channel 12.

Isaiah was quite funny and natural talking with Ellen. Especially while admitting that it took him 83 takes and 4 days to complete the filming. Watch the segment below for a good laugh.

Funny, entertaining and quickly becoming famous. It sounds like he has everything (Except a 1996 Rose Bowl and NCAA Football Championship. Damn Ohio State). Too bad most people don’t know his name and just call him that “Old Spice Guy”.

The Valley’s premier wing eating competition runs every Wednesday from now through August at a different Native New Yorker in Arizona.  2010’s Grand prize is a Harley from Chandler Harley Davidson and the runner up wins a pair of 2011 Arizona Diamondback season tickets.

To qualify for the finale, just win a Native New Yorker location by eating the most “medium” Native New Yorker chicken wings in 10 minutes and 60 seconds.

This season’s Native New Yorker Battle of the Bone  is brought to you by Chandler Harley Davidson, Bud Light, Arizona Diamondbacks, Xyience Energy Drinks, Fox Sports Arizona, Fanster.com, 98 KUPD and The Fan AM 1060.  Portions of proceeds will benefit the 100 Club of Arizona.

Results Week 2:  Name/Amt Taken/Finishing lbs/Finishing Oz/Est. Wings Eaten/Pounds

Note on our weekly results: Nutritiondata.com states that one whole chicken wing (both the paddle and the drumstick portion of the chicken wing) weigh on average 1 oz.  Thus providing us with the figure that each wing portion (the drumstick and the paddle) each weigh a half an ounce.  So, when it is stated that a contestant has eaten 57 wings, they have eaten the weight that is the equivalent of 57 wings.  In actuality they have eaten more than 57 wings, but the actually weight of the meat they have eaten is equivalent to the weight of 57 whole wings.

Here’s a look at what you might have missed Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 on the local Phoenix sports radio airwaves.

General Manager of the Phoenix Suns Steve Kerr talks about the Channing Frye suspension, the team’s week off and Friday’s game against the Lakers

Download audio file (03102010090654.mp3)

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Matt Leinart stops by to talk about competing for the starting job and says that he’s “willing to do whatever it takes to be great”

Download audio file (03102010145934.mp3)

Arizona State University’s Vice President for University Athletics Lisa Love talks about the school’s chances to make the “Big Dance”

Download audio file (03102010151529.mp3)

Twitter fanatic and Phoenix Suns forward Jared Dudley talks about the team’s long layoff, the suspension to Channing Frye and taking on the Lakers

Download audio file (3-10%20Jared%20Dudley%20PODCAST.mp3)

Orthopedic surgeon for the Phoenix Suns Dr. Richard Emerson discusses what it takes to come back from a major sports injury

Download audio file (Dr.%20Emerson%20Interview.mp3)