Sport » Twins trailing 2-1, Mauers drive in the fifth innin

Ahead of Saturdays MLS Cup, Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber held his annual State of the League address on Tuesday and talked in depth about many of the issues surrounding the league including expansion, scheduling and how the league can improve. Over the last year, Major League Soccer has talked of its goal to become one of the top leagues in the world in a decades time. Theres no doubt that an increase in the standard of play is the main area that needs improving for MLS to have any chance of achieving that goal and Garber feels progress is being made, not just with the arrival of big-name Designated Players but also with top young talent being developed in a league where parity is important. "2013 was arguably our most competitive on the field to date," said Garber. ""Were very focused on competitive balance amongst our clubs. We believe we have one of the most competitive soccer leagues anywhere around the world. We should be even more committed to this vision that we want to be one of the top leagues in the world by 2022. It starts with an increase in quality in MLS play. We believe we have among the best American players playing in the league today." "It starts with a firm commitment to player development. Our commitment to player development totals over $20 million a year. Players like Diego Fagundez in New England, Real Salt Lakes Luis Gill and DeAndre Yedlin in Seattle have all emerged as key players in our league at under 20 years of age. We now have 90 homegrown players who started in MLS academies and are now playing in the first team. We want to be a leader in this. Going forward, you will see even greater commitments in this." Garber outlined four key areas that MLS needs to improve if it is to meet its goal of being one of the top leagues in the world. 1. Quality of Play: "As we continue to grow the league and revenues and systems so that we have the ability to attract the best players in the world, we will be able to have a quality of play that will be dramatically different." 2. The passion of our fans: "In order for us to grow what we have, we need to have a dynamic in our stadiums that will be different to other sports leagues in this country and soccer leagues around the world." 3. The relevance of our teams: "We need to have teams that are relevant and important in their market." 4. The value of our enterprise: "We need to have an enterprise that makes sense. It cant be about one or two teams, it has to have all clubs and markets successful." Other notable information from Garbers State of the League: • Garber says the league is "making progress" with David Beckham and his partners as they look to add Miami as an expansion franchise. He talked about the need for the right stadium deal to be in place for that to become a reality. He also made it clear that Atlanta is the other target market for team 22 or 23. That leaves a number of other cities fighting it out for the 24th and final expansion team in Major League Soccer including San Antonio, Minneapolis, Austin and St Louis. Garber said the ownership group and a downtown stadium are the two most important factors for successful expansion bids. • Garber admits the league needs to be more transparent in communicating the rules of the league and says they are "in the process of doing that," but he also admitted "as an emerging league, there are times when we are figuring out the rules as we go along and have the ability to be flexible and evolve." • Garber said if it was a horse race, he would "put money on" MLSE president Tim Leiweke fixing the problems at Toronto FC. "Id be encouraged if I was a Toronto FC fan. If anyone can figure out how to turn that team around, it is Tim Leiweke. He has never done anything other than succeed." • Garber says the league is "trying to figure out" a way to have the final round of regular season matches to be scheduled at the same time. • Major League Soccer will continue to look into the possibility of moving in line with the FIFA calendar, but that isnt something that will happen any time soon. "As a league, we have in the past looked, and continue to look, at a potential calendar shift. We went through a fairly comprehensive process this year looking at if we could manage a schedule change. It isnt just about whether to play games in cold weather markets, it is about what we would do with an extended break. We will continue to look at it. We looked at it more deeply this time than ever before, but it is not something we are going to do in the short-term." • MLS Cup will be distributed in 130 countries around the world. 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MINNEAPOLIS -- Joe Mauer hit a two-run double that just missed reaching the seats and Kevin Correia pitched a smooth six innings to help the Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox for the third straight game, 4-3 on Saturday. Glen Perkins pitched another tenuous ninth inning but got his 19th save in 22 tries after giving up two runs to blow one the night before. Adam Eaton led off with a triple and scored on Gordon Beckhams sacrifice fly. Pinch-hitter Paul Konerko then smacked a single up the middle, but Perkins struck out Jose Abreu and Adam Dunn to end it and punctuated the final swing and miss with a big pump of his left arm. With the Twins trailing 2-1, Mauers drive in the fifth inning soared over left fielder Alejandro De Aza and landed about halfway up the wall. Kendrys Morales hit the next pitch for an RBI single against Andre Rienzo (4-5), who lost his fifth straight start. Correia (4-8) gave up five runs or more in five of his first 12 starts, sliding toward replacement in the rotation, but the 33-year-old right-hander has pitched superbly in three turns since. In 18 innings, Correia has allowed a total of two earned runs and walked only four. He surrendered his share of sharp drives on this picture-perfect first-day-of-summer afternoon, but the defence behind him didnt do him any favours. Centre fielder Sam Fuld tried to dive for a two-out sinking liner by Conor Gillaspie in the first inning, but the ball skipped in front of and past him for a triple and Abreu followed with an RBI single. Then third baseman Eduardo Escobar bungled a routine ground ball by letting it slide between his legs to start the second inning. The White Sox only needed a single, a walk and a two-out hit-by-pitch to produce the unearned run. Correias 3-1 bases-loaded fastball bounced off Beckhams elbow and hit catcher Kurt Suzuki in the throat, but he was all right to stay in the game. Escobar committed a second error on a similar play the next inning, but Correia escaped trouble with a double-play groundball by Dayan Viciedo.dddddddddddd The Brazilian-born Rienzo, who debuted for the White Sox last summer, was 4-0 after his first six starts following the rotator cuff injury that knocked Felipe Paulino out of action. Rienzo has struggled badly since, though, by finishing the fifth inning in only two of his last five turns. His ERA during the losing streak is 8.87. The Twins hit three straight two-out singles in the second inning to load the bases, and Fuld walked to force in the first run. Then Rienzo hit Brian Dozier with a pitch to put two runners on for Mauer in the fifth inning, setting the struggling six-time All-Star and three-time batting champion up for just his fourth multi-RBI game this season. Two of those have been in this series. The White Sox have hung around the pack in the American League Central all year, never losing or winning more than four games in a row, but this has been a rough start to an 11-game road trip. They fell a season-high five games under .500 and back into last place. The Twins took a five-game losing streak into this series. Their starters have a 2.41 ERA over the last 11 games. NOTES: Mauer has 18 of his 20 RBIs this season at Target Field. ... Gillaspie went 2 for 4 to raise his average to .340, but he doesnt have enough at-bats to qualify yet for the league batting lead. In his last 30 games, Gillaspie is batting .366. ... Twins RF Oswaldo Arcia is hitless in his last 27 at-bats. ... The White Sox will send John Danks (6-5, 3.97) to the mound for the series finale Sunday, and Phil Hughes (7-3, 3.09 ERA) will pitch for the Twins. Danks has a 5.70 ERA in six road starts this season. Hughes gave up three HRs in his last home start, the only time a team has taken him deep in his last eight turns. ... White Sox manager Robin Ventura successfully challenged a call in the third inning, when Brian Dozier originally led off with a double. Replays showed Beckhams tag grazed Doziers foot before it landed on the base. 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