The Brewers yanked Eric Gagne from the closer's role on Sunday after the reliever called his latest performance embarrassing and said he didn't feel he deserved to pitch the ninth anymore.
Manager Ned Yost said he read Gagne's comments and will use a closer by committee approach while the Mascouche, Que., native takes what Yost called a "mental break."
Eric Gagne
"He's really pushing himself really, really hard and taking it really, really hard," Yost said. "We'll probably just mix and match, I'm not going to do anything crazy."
Gagne, who signed a US$10-million, one-year contract with the Brewers days before the Mitchell Report on performance-enhancing drugs included his name, said after Milwaukee's 5-3 loss on Saturday that he wanted to keep pushing through, but he didn't deserve to close.
"It's mental, I think it's negative thinking that creeps back in your mind," Gagne said Saturday. "It's a matter of going out there and executing your pitches, not thinking results and I'm thinking results. I'm going out there thinking three outs before I can even get one."
Goldeyes trade infielder for player to be named
Annika Sorenstam cradles trophy.
THE Winnipeg Goldeyes made one roster move on Sunday, trading rookie infielder Greg Beacham to the Washington Wild Things of the Frontier Baseball League for a player to be named later.
Manager Rick Forney has until 5 p.m. today to declare his opening-day roster for the 2008 Northern League season in advance of Thursday's season opener at Canwest Park against the Kansas City T-Bones.
The rest of his player moves will be announced today, but general manager Andrew Collier told the Free Press about the trade of Beacham late Sunday night, bringing to 27 the number of players still with the team.
The club must cut down to 22 players by this evening.
-- Chris Cariou
Team that beat Terriers takes RBC Cup title
CORNWALL, Ont. -- The Camrose Kodiaks may have been the stingiest team at the RBC Cup, but Taylor Nelson and the Humboldt Broncos one-upped them when it counted most.
Nelson stopped 31 shots and made Edward Gale's first-period goal stand up in Humboldt's 1-0 win Sunday over Camrose at the national junior A hockey championship final.
"I'm just basking in the moment while I can," said Nelson. "This team is like a big family, everyone has been great. I don't think I can find the words to describe how it feels.
"I just want to enjoy this while I can."
Gale's power-play goal at 16:39 of the first period was all the Saskatchewan team would need. He walked out of the right corner and tucked the puck behind Camrose goaltender Allen York.
The Alberta club had allowed just four goals while amassing a record of 5-0-0 prior to the final. Humboldt, meanwhile, led the five-team tournament with 24 goals coming in.
Both teams turned up the intensity in the third period and Mike Connolly had Camrose's best scoring chance when he ended up with the puck alone in the slot, but was stopped by Nelson.
Not even a late power play, coming with 59 seconds left after Jordan Shindel hooked Camrose star Joe Colbourne, helped them put a puck past Nelson.
The Kodiaks pulled York for an extra attacker, but despite steady pressure, ended up frustrated when Nelson made a game-saving stop with one second remaining.
"He is phenomenal," said Humbolt captain Russ Neilsen.
The Broncos beat the Portage Terriers of the MJHL in the ANAVET Cup final.
-- The Canadian Press
She's baaack! Sorenstam on top of her game again
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- Annika Sorenstam is on her way back, and a performance that harkened memories of her game before an injury-filled 2007 season suggests she's close.
"That's the way I used to play," Sorenstam said Sunday after hitting every fairway and almost every green in a 5-under-par 66 that made her the runaway winner of the Michelob Ultra Open with a tournament-record 19-under 265. She beat four others by a record-tying seven strokes.
Two of them -- Jeong Jang and Christina Kim -- played with her in the final threesome.
"She hit a perfect iron shot every single hole," Jang said. "Annika's back."
"It's good to see that she is where she was when she was No. 1," added Kim, who also was tied with Allison Fouch and Karen Stupples. "It's just -- flawless is the best way to put it."
It's never flawless with Sorenstam, who believes that it's possible to make birdie at every hole in a round and shoot 54, but coming down the stretch she was very close. She had five birdies on the back nine, including three in a row, before a bogey on the final hole.
"That's about as good as I can hit my iron shots," she said. "Make a few more putts and get some distance on my drives and I'm going to tell you that's as good as I can play."
The victory was the Swede's third in eight events this season, and in the process she also answered the doubters who said she could no longer play with new No. 1 Lorena Ochoa.
The eight-time player of the year pulled away from Ochoa on Saturday, using her typical steadiness for a 2-under 69, then did the same to Jang on Sunday.
-- The Associated Press
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