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Rockies’ Aaron Cook placed on the DL

Cook

Bad news for Rockies fans coming out of Colorado. Ace Aaron Cook has been placed on the DL due to shoulder strain. The team has called up right-handed reliever Matt Herges from Triple-A Colorado Springs to replace the injured Cook on the roster.

The Rockies began the day leading the NL wild-card race by one game over San Francisco.

Cook was hurt during Friday night’s 6-3 loss to the Giants. Rockies manager Jim Tracy said Cook felt something in his shoulder during a four-pitch walk to Nate Schierholtz to start the fourth inning. Cook motioned to the dugout after the walk and was taken out after being looked at by trainer Keith Dugger.

Tracy said Cook will have an MRI on Monday and the early signs are encouraging that it won’t be a serious injury.

Cook hasn’t been on the DL since 2007 when he experienced an oblique strain. With that injury, Cook missed the last seven weeks of the regular season. There’s word that Cook could miss up to three and a half weeks with this recent problem.

With a rotation of Cook, Ubaldo Jimenez, Jason Marquis, Jason Hammell, and Jorge De La Rosa, it’s a miracle the Rockies are in the playoff hunt. Normally, I would say that Cook’s absence wouldn’t hurt their chances — as he’s usually pretty mediocre — but he’s been vital to the Rockies unexpected success. On the Rockies DL, Cook will be joining relievers Manuel Corpas and Juan Rincon.

Still, the Rockies aren’t the only club in the NL West having to soldier through pitching injuries. All on the DL, Randy Johnson of the Giants and both Hiroki Kuroda and Jason Schmidt of the Dodgers can only watch as their teams compete down the stretch.

Either Adam Eaton or Josh Fogg will start in place of Cook next Wednesday against the Dodgers.

Wakefield replaces Penny in the rotation

Wakefield

After a decent first half, Brad Penny has looked horrid in his last few starts, most notably allowing eight earned runs against the Yankees in yesterday’s blowout. In 24 starts this season, Penny has a 7-8 record with a 5.61 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP. That not going to cut if for Terry Francona and the Bo Sox. Returning from this DL is veteran Tim Wakefield and he will start in Penny’s place against the White Sox next Wednesday.

Wakefield (11-3) last pitched for Boston on July 8 and made his second rehab start Friday night since going on the disabled list July 21 with a strained lower back, left hamstring and left calf. In 5 2-3 innings for Triple-A Pawtucket, the knuckleballer allowed one run and two hits in a 2-1 win over Rochester.

At 43 years-old, Wakefield is having one of the most impressive seasons of his long career. Sporting an 11-3 record, I’m sure the Red Sox are eager to have Wakefield back. Judging by their play against the Yankees, the Red Sox Nation must be freaking out right now. Remember when everyone was in awe of the Red Sox pitching staff coming into this season? They had added free agents Brad Penny, John Smoltz, and Takashi Saito to their already dominant staff of Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Jonathan Papelbon. Well, Smoltz is gone, Dice-K is on the DL, and now Penny’s future is in question. Lucky for them, Beckett and Lester are having solid seasons, but who would have thought the Sox would ever be in dire need of Wakefield’s arm?

It’s going to be very exciting to watch the Sox, Yankees, and Rays compete for their division and the wild card spot. All these teams can hit, so it’s the teams with the stronger rotation that will achieve a playoff spot. With Kazmir and Garza of the Rays finally starting to pitch with some authority, Wakefield’s return comes at just the right time.

Vick burns down Lincoln Financial Field

…not really – Michael Vick just got The Onion treatment:

PHILADELPHIA—Newly acquired Eagles quarterback Michael Vick was “humiliated” Tuesday after an iron he had left unattended inside the team’s locker room sparked a blaze that eventually burned Lincoln Financial Field to the ground. “I just wanted to press some shirts so I could look nice and make a good impression on the team, but now everybody is going to hate me,” said Vick, choking back tears as he surveyed the still smoldering remains of the $518 million stadium. “I didn’t mean to do it. I tried really hard to put out the fire, but when I smothered the flames they just got bigger and everything started burning. I’m super sorry. I promise it won’t happen again.” Vick, who said he did not notify police or the fire department because it would violate the conditions of his reinstatement, added that the stadium might be fine once it cools down.

That’s pretty funny.

On a related note, Andy Reid said that Vick would make his Eagles debut next Thursday against the Jaguars.

Favre rusty in Vikings’ debut

Brett Favre showed plenty of rust in his Vikings debut Friday night, completing just 1-of-4 passes for four yards in Minnesota’s 17-13 preseason win over the Chiefs.

From ESPN.com:

“I just didn’t want to fumble the snap,” Favre said. “Wanted to make sure I got the handoffs. If you complete passes, great. But I was nervous about that.”

Cheered loudly by the same fans who used to loathe him when he played for Green Bay, Favre played two series and went 1 for 4 for a whopping 4 yards. He moved around all right and his passes had zip, just no direction.

Favre’s night ended with a jarring hit by Chiefs linebacker Corey Mays, who buried his head in the 39-year-old’s chest as he drove him into the turf to force an errant throw. Favre got up and walked off fine, his purple No. 4 jersey — such a strange sight, for sure — pulled down and exposing his left shoulder pad.

“He did tell me that no one’s tackled him off his tractor,” coach Brad Childress said. “Good for him to get hit.”

Hilarious, Brad.

There’s obviously not much to draw from Brett’s performance, although one would have thought that he could have mustered at least one first down in two series. After all, it’s not like he’s learning a new offense.

Maybe Favre wouldn’t have been so rusty had he shown up for Minnesota’s training camp.

Industry Insiders Fantasy League: Round 3

To start with Round 1 (and see the scoring system and roster requirements), click here.

Heading into Round 3, I had Chris Johnson and Steve Smith on board, and felt that I got off to a pretty good start. The first decision I had to make was to turn down a trade offer from the team with the 3.03 pick. He wanted to move back in the third, up in the fourth and up in the sixth. I considered moving up to grab Wes Welker, Clinton Portis or Ronnie Brown at 3.03, but both Welker and Portis went, and I didn’t feel strongly enough about Brown to give up my position in the fourth round.

In other words, there were enough players that I would feel comfortable selecting at 4.05, but I wasn’t so sure that would be the case for pick 4.10. In retrospect, trading up probably would have worked out, though I likely would have ended up with the same player in the end.

Here’s how the first part of Round 3 went: 25) Kevin Smith, 26) Wes Welker, 27) Darren McFadden, 28) Terrell Owens, 29) Drew Brees, 30) Pierre Thomas, 32) Dwayne Bowe

At 3.08, I had to choose amongst Tom Brady, Ronnie Brown, Ryan Grant, Marshawn Lynch and Reggie Bush. Housh was also available, but I felt that if I went WR/RB/WR through the first three rounds, it would put me in a tough spot if the teams drafting after me went on a RB run.

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