OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Minnesota Twins have sent struggling starting pitcher Nick Blackburn back to Triple-A Rochester and taken him off their 40-man roster. The move was made before Mondays game at Oakland. The Twins will replace him on the 25-man roster on Tuesday. Blackburn was scheduled to take the mound on Wednesday against the As. After a decent performance over his first two major league seasons, making 33 starts each in 2008 and 2009, Blackburn has regressed since signing a four-year, $14 million contract in 2010. He has a 7.39 ERA in 19 starts and 143 hits allowed in 98 2-3 innings. The right-hander is making $4.75 million this season and due $5.5 million in 2013. The Twins also outrighted infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka off their 40-man roster. Hell remain with Rochester. Cheap Jerseys Paypal . The ninth-seeded Petkovic rolled past Romanian qualifier Monica Niculescu, 6-2, 6-0, before the 11th-seeded Radwanska thumped Italys Flavia Pennetta, 6-2, 6-4. Petkovic made quick work of her opponent, winning in a mere 61 minutes. Cheap Jerseys Sale . -- An injured Ryan Howard clutching his leg and writhing in pain on the ground was the lasting image for the Philadelphia Phillies disappointing 2011 finish. http://facialhairstyleshq.info/cheapjerseys.html . And then it was the Canadian mens turn. And while they took their time to pull ahead, the men ended up savouring their own curtain call after a key 1-0 win over Panama moved them atop their World Cup qualifying group.UFA, Russia - Miro Aaltonen scored twice and added an assist before leaving the game with a serious ankle injury Wednesday as Finland defeated Latvia 5-1 at the world junior hockey championship. Rasmus Ristolainen added a goal and an assist for the Finns (1-0), while Artturi Lehkonen and Markus Granlund also scored. Joel Armia chipped in with two assists. Joonas Korpisalo made 11 saves to get the win in Pool A. Aaltonen had to leave the game after a third-period collision with a Latvian player. "His tournnament is over because his ankle is very bad," said Finnish coach Harri Rindell, adding the 19-year-old forward may require surgery.dddddddddddd "He was so depressed because he really wanted to play and he is in great shape. Thats hockey, unfortunately." Nikolajs Jelisejevs had the only goal for Latvia (0-1), which got 39 saves from Elvis Merzlikins. Latvia will take on Switzerland in that countrys tournament opener Thursday, while Finland faces the Czech Republic (0-1) on Friday. ' ' '
