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2012 Tour Of California: Peter Sagan Wins Stage 4

2012-05-16T23:17:49Z

Another stage, another win for Peter Sagan at the 2012 Tour of California.

Sagan, who won the first three stages of the race, won again on Wednesday, finishing in first-place in Stage 4. Sagan needed a last-minute burst to claim the victory, but was able to come out on top in yet another stage.

With the win, Sagan earns another 10-second time bonus.

Heinrich Haussler is currently in second place, trailing only Sagan. Sagan is ahead of Haussler by 16 seconds, and is ahead of third-place Jeff Louder by 34 seconds in the general classification.

On Thursday, cyclists will be faced with a grueling time trial in Bakersfield, California. It will be an 18.4 mile individual time trial course that includes over 1,400 feet of climbing -- hardly a walk at the park for any cyclist.

For more on the 2012 Tour of California, be sure to keep checking SB Nation Houston's StoryStream throughout the week.

Houston Astros Vs. Milwaukee Brewers: Wednesday Starting Lineups

2012-05-16T21:21:39Z

The Houston Astros are set to open up a two-game series with the defending National League Central champion Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night. Astros fans will get a glimpse of the reigning National League MVP as well, as Ryan Braun will be batting third for the Brewers tonight -- as is custom for the Brew Crew.

Both managers have announced the starting lineups for Wednesday night's game, and they are as follows:

Milwaukee Brewers

Nyjer Morgan, CF
Rickie Weeks, 2B
Ryan Braun, LF
Aramis Ramirez, 3B
Corey Hart, RF
George Kottaras, C
Travis Ishikawa, 1B
Cesar Izturis, SS
Randy Wolf, SP

Houston Astros

Jordan Schafer, CF
Jose Altuve, 2B
J.D. Martinez, LF
Carlos Lee, 1B
Jed Lowrie, SS
Justin Maxwell, RF
Chris Johnson, 3B
Jason Castro, C
Bud Norris, SP

Even without Prince Fielder, Milwaukee's lineup is pretty solid, though suffice to say, Ishikawa is no Fielder. We'll see if Norris can have some success against the Brewers, and move the Astros closer to .500.

For more on the Astros, be sure to head over to the Crawfish Boxes and join the discussion.

Astros Vs. Brewers: Game 1 Preview, TV Info And More

2012-05-16T21:14:23Z

The Brewers and Astros meet up for a two-game series following Milwaukee's series win last month. Both teams are looking to make a move out of the bottom of the NL Central.

Through a solid month and a half of the regular season, the good news is that the Astros are only a game back of the defending NL Central Champion Brewers, but the bad news is both clubs are closer to last place than first.

Bud Norris will start the two game series on the hill for Houston, and was excellent in his last outing, a 1-0 win over Pittsburgh featuring eight strike outs. Despite ranking eighth in the NL in runs scored, the Brewers have had 12 games of two runs or less with a wildly inconsistent offense.

Date / Time: Wednesday, May 16, 7:05 p.m. CT

Location: Minute Maid Park, Houston Texas

TV: Fox Sports Houston

Radio: KTRH 740, KLAT 1010

Probable Starters: Bud Norris (3-1) vs. Randy Wolf (2-3)

For more on the Houston Astros, check out From The Crawfish Boxes. Milwaukee Brewers news and info can be found at Brew Crew Ball, and all your MLB news is available at Baseball Nation.

2012 Texans Offseason: Right Tackle Is Houston's Biggest Need

2012-05-16T18:09:58Z

Over at Football Outsiders, Vince Verhei goes over the biggest off-season needs for each AFC South team. For the defending champion Texans, he points to the opening at right tackle created by the departure of Eric Winston:

In a move that raised eyebrows around the league, the Texans released the highly-regarded Eric Winston prior to free agency. Winston signed with the Chiefs, becoming one of the very few players to be released, then receive a "bigger" contract than he had owed to him. With cap money hard to come by, the Texans couldn't really find many proper solutions in free agency, so Houston instead had to look to the draft. They addressed wide receiver and outside linebacker in the early rounds, and brought in some fascinating interior linemen in the middle rounds, but they don't have an obvious challenger to Rashad Butler at right tackle at this point.

Butler, a third round pick of the Carolina Panthers in 2006, replaced Winston on the University of Miami offensive line earlier in the decade.

He's been part of the Texans organization since 2007, but has started only 4 games so far in his NFL career. With Matt Schaub not exactly the most mobile QB in the NFL, Butler will have to be ready to play this fall, despite his lack of playing experience.

For more coverage of the Texans off-season, head over to Battle Red Blog.

Houston Rockets Draft Prospects: Meyers Leonard

2012-05-16T13:38:57Z

We continue our look at NBA draft prospects the Rockets should target. So far we've looked at Tyler Zeller, Moe Harkless, and Perry Jones III; today we look at Meyers Leonard, a center from Illinois.

Leonard is a good prospect, looks to be solid in almost every aspect of his game, but he does come with a few question marks. He played well last year, but did nothing as a freshman raising the question of him being a 1-year wonder. Leonard averaged 13.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks during his sophomore year after playing just 8 minutes per game as a freshman. My initial thought is his ceiling isn't that high, reminds me of guys like Aaron Gray and Cole Aldrich, but scouts seem to like him and think the improvement he made last season, will continue at the NBA level.

Scouts like his athleticism, his shot blocking ability, and his touch from the free-throw line and with his jumper. His weaknesses, he'll need to add more weight to avoid being pushed around in the post, doesn't have a good go-to post move on offense, and he sometimes gets lazy in his game and takes too many outside jumpers. Scouts seem to think his upside is that of Robin Lopez, if Leonard reaches that level, that's a steal at the end of the lottery.

I think Leonard would be a good fit for the Rockets who have an abundance of power forwards, but almost nothing at center. Marcus Camby is a free-agent and we saw Samuel Dalembert fade towards the end of last season. They have to get a young center this off-season and through the draft is their best option. Sure they have assets to trade, but what team is willing to give away a young, talented big? The Rockets have plus defenders in Kyle Lowry and Chandler Parsons on the perimeter, but they need a rim protector; any offense Leonard gives you is a bonus, though he does have a good offensive game.

His draft projection varies, but most have him available for the Rockets at 14th overall. NBAdraft.net projects him to go at 17, Draft Express at 15, NBA.com at 15, Hoopshype at 15, and Mynbadraft.com at 14.

Recap: Dynamo Unable To Break Through Portland, Draw 0-0

2012-05-16T13:14:56Z

The Houston Dynamo and Portland Timbers played to a 0-0 draw on Tuesday in the first night game at BBVA Compass Stadium. The Dynamo, playing their third game in seven days, had several chances in the second half but could not produce a game-winning goal. Dynamo goalkeeper Tally Hall recorded his second consecutive shutout and fourth shutout of the season.

Houston’s best chance came in the 87th minute when midfielder Calen Carr broke free behind the Portland defense but Timbers goalkeeper Troy Perkins saved his shot from the top of the box.

Perkins was up to the task 20 minutes earlier as he used his right leg to stop a low shot from Luiz Camargo, who had slipped in alone into the box and drilled a shot from 12 yards.

Defender Corey Ashe made his 137th MLS regular season appearance for the Dynamo. With the start, he surpassed Brian Mullan and Pat Onstad to reach second on the Dynamo franchise list.

Defender Geoff Cameron played his 140th game in all competitions for the Dynamo to move into a tie with Wade Barrett for seventh on the franchise list.

For the second consecutive home game, the Dynamo controlled the majority of the chances. After a season-high 20 shots in Saturday’s 1-0 win, the Orange delivered 18 shots for an 18-9 shot advantage over the Timbers. Houston had a 7-2 edge in shots on goal, and a season-best 59% of possession.

The Dynamo stand at 3-3-3 (12 points) on the year while the Timbers are 2-5-3 (9 points).

The Dynamo return to the pitch for their fourth game in 11 days on Saturday at New England. The Dynamo will face the Revolution at 6:30 p.m. CT from Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. The match can be viewed on KPRC Local 2 and can be heard on SportsTalk 790 AM and La Ranchera 850 AM.

May 15, 2012 – BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, TX – Attendance: 22,039 (sellout)

Goals by Period 1 2 Total
Houston Dynamo 0 0 0
Portland Timbers 0 0 0

Houston Dynamo – Tally Hall; Jermaine Taylor, Bobby Boswell, Geoff Cameron, Corey Ashe; Calen Carr, Luiz Camargo, Nathan Sturgis, Brad Davis (Alex Dixon 74); Macoumba Kandji (Colin Clark 71), Will Bruin (Brian Ching 64)

Substitutes not used: Tyler Deric, Adam Moffat, Andre Hainault, Je-Vaughn Watson

TOTAL SHOTS: 18 (7 players with 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (7 players with 1); FOULS: 10 (Macoumba Kandji 3); OFFSIDES: 1 (Macoumba Kandji 1); CORNER KICKS: 6 (Brad Davis 3, Colin Clark 3); SAVES: 2 (Tally Hall 2)

Portland Timbers – Troy Perkins; Jack Jewsbury (Mike Chabala 45), Hanyer Mosquera, Mamadou Danso, Steven Smith; Frank Songo’o (Eric Alexander 69), Diego Chara, Lovel Palmer, Rodney Wallace (Sal Zizzo 60), Kris Boyd, Darlington Nagbe

Substitutes not used: David Horst, Joe Bendik, Mike Fucito, Jorge Perlaza

Misconduct Summary: â€¨Portland – Kris Boyd (caution) 92

Referee: Chris Penso
Assistants: Chris Strickland, Eric Proctor
Fourth official: Jorge Luna Hernandez

2012 NCAA Baseball Regional Projections: Will LSU Be A National Seed?

2012-05-16T12:01:02Z

At this point last week, the Tigers were a virtual shoo-in for one of the eight national seeds, but a series loss at home to Vanderbilt has given the experts pause.

Sayeth Aaron Fitt at Baseball America:

Last week, we had LSU listed in the SECURE category, and this week we've got the Tigers outside the top eight. Turns out we were a little hasty with that SECURE label. We were assuming the Tigers would take care of business and win a home series against Vanderbilt, but losing that series has created a situation where the winner of the LSU-South Carolina series this weekend is likely to earn the SEC's third national seed, while the other team could miss out.

The Tigers are still set to host unless something very crazy happens this week and during the SEC Tournament next weekend, so at this point it's solely a matter of capturing the coveted national seed and home field for Super Regionals.

SEBaseball.com thinks LSU will not be a national seed, but has them hosting St Louis, Miami, and Southeastern Louisiana.

Perfect Game also holds the Tigers out of the top eight, and sends Texas, Tulane, and Southern to Baton Rouge.

ESPN gives the Bayou Bengals the number eight overall seed, with Georgia Tech, Tulane, and Southern playing at The Box.

2012 NCAA Baseball Regional Projections: Sam Houston Likely A Three-S

2012-05-16T12:00:52Z

The latest round of regional projections came out yesterday, and it seems most experts agree that Sam Houston State will be a three-seed somewhere within Texas.

The Bearkats are fresh off clinching the Southland Conference championship, but that won't be enough to bump them to a two-seed, due to their RPI (49) and strength of schedule (109).

Kendall Rogers at Perfect Game has SHSU playing in the College Station regional along with two-seed Arkansas and four-seed Army.

SEBaseball.com also has the Bearkats playing in Aggieland (CONSPIRACY, Y'ALL), but they're matched up with Arizona and Oral Roberts.

The fine folks at the World Wide Leader send the 'Kats to Waco to play TCU and Oral Roberts, along with Baylor.

A lot can happen between now and Selection Sunday in two weeks, especially if A&M loses on the road to Oklahoma State. So while Sam Houston is pretty much a lock as a three-seed, they'll have to see how their fellow Texans finish up before the picture becomes clearer.