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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- If Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Chris Archer needs some kind of spark to get out of the long, difficult slump that has been his 2016 season, perhaps the Minnesota Twins will do the trick.Archer is 5-15, leading the majors in losses, with just one win in his last 10 starts and his team 2-8 in those games. Baseball hasnt had a 20-game loser since Detroits Mike Maroth in 2003, and if Archer is to keep pitching and avoid such infamy, something has to change.For his career, Minnesota has been that kind of cure-all -- hes 4-1 all-time against the Twins, with a sterling 1.78 ERA in his five starts. He actually lost in his last outing against Minnesota, but struck out 12 in doing so nearly a year ago in August.And if the Rays, too, are to reverse their struggles, theyll need Archer to last longer than Fridays starter, Blake Snell, who got to 97 pitches in just 5 1/3 innings, putting a 2-1 lead in the hands of the Tampa Bay bullpen.It didnt go well, as relievers Erasmo Ramirez and Ryan Garton combined to give up five runs and six hits in their 3 2/3 innings, while the Twins bullpen calmly threw 2.2 innings of one-hit, scoreless relief.(Ramirez) has been throwing the ball pretty good for us, Rays manager Kevin Cash said. Today, you go back and look at those pitches and Im guessing they were probably hit where they were supposed to be hit, (given) the location.Those pitches included a two-run home run to Eddie Rosario and a solo shot from Miguel Sano. And just as the Twins have been good for Archer in the past, the Rays could benefit from facing a young, unproven arm in Minnesota starter Jose Berrios, who is carrying an 8.57 ERA with a 2-1 record.Berrios had good numbers at Triple-A Rochester, carrying a 2.71 ERA in 13 starts, and Saturday will be his second start since being recalled. He took the win in his last start, giving up three runs on five hits in six innings for a quality start, retiring 15 straight at one point.Minnesota kept the Rays from causing any real trouble in Fridays opening win, holding them to a 1-for-7 night with runners in scoring position. Starter Ervin Santana gave up three hits in the first five at-bats, then settled down to retired 10 straight and last into the seventh inning. Their bats, meanwhile, came through with four hits with runners in scoring position, allowing them to break open a game that was a pitchers duel entering the seventh inning.A nice overall win for us, manager Paul Molitor said. We had to keep fighting. We fought our way back in the game and the bullpen was solid.David Njoku Youth Jersey .Y. - New Orleans forward Anthony Davis was chosen Friday to replace the injured Kobe Bryant in the NBA All-Star game that will be played in his home city. Sione Takitaki Jersey . NBA officials ruled the court unplayable in the Bucks final exhibition game on Oct. 25 because players were slipping, and the game was cancelled midway through the first period. http://www.brownsauthenticproshop.com/Youth-Joe-Thomas-Browns-Jersey/ . - NASCAR announced a 33-race schedule for the 2014 Nationwide Series with virtually no changes from this years slate. Austin Corbett Jersey . The Browns coaching search remains incomplete. Jarvis Landry Womens Jersey . But when it comes to determining if Raymond will find a place on the Leafs roster when training camp concludes in a week, well, that decision will ultimately fall to the head coach.In case you missed it during this week devoted to indigestion and brawling during Black Friday over that toy your child just has to have, the NCAA dropped the hammer on Notre Dame for academic shenanigans that occurred in its once-storied football program.It was an all-too-familiar lapse in the charade of professional sports franchises operating within our institutions of higher learning: a student trainer handled the schoolwork for several football players who couldnt be bothered with doing it themselves, which led to the Fighting Irish being stripped of two seasons worth of wins.The NCAA delivered a relatively swift punishment that, frankly, appeared a bit too harsh. Notre Dame acknowledged that rules were broken and cooperated in the investigation. There was no indication that the higher-ups were aware of what was going on.But were not here to cry for the Fighting Irish.Were more concerned about another case.Remember North Carolina? The Tar Heels have been mired in a massive academic fraud scandal going back more than two decades that has led to five NCAA charges, a corruption scandal far more troubling and far-reaching than the substitute schoolwork that went on at Notre Dame. Heck, what the Irish did sounds downright quaint by comparison.Yet, the NCAA has still not levied any punishment on Tobacco Road, allowing the case to devolve into a legal mumbo-jumbo that seems to be sending a clear message to future rule-breakers: its best to delay, delay and delay some more.Its now been more than six years since the NCAA first arrived in Chapel Hill to investigate allegations of improper benefits and academic misconduct within the football program.That led to the uncovering of something even worse: sham courses within a department devoted to African-American studies, which were really nothing more than a conduit for athletes to pick up an easy A without being burdened with going to class or doing much in the way of actual schoolwork.An independent investigation by former U.S. Justice Department official Kenneth Wainstein found that some 3,100 students -- roughly half of them athletes from numerous sports -- took bogus courses between 1993 and 2011. At least one prominent former basketball player has come forward to say he was caught up in the scam: Rashad McCants, who helped lead the Tar Heels to the 2005 national championship.Despite a massive body of evidence, North Carolina has yet to face any sort of justice.Instead, this has become the worst episode of Law & Order ever.TThe NCAA leveled its initial set of charges, including the dreaded lack of institutional control.ddddddddddddThe school had 90 days to respond, and went right up to the deadline before sending along additional information for the NCAA to review. That led to an amended set of charges, with the most serious allegations still in there. The school responded again, this time with a bunch of procedural arguments that most notably challenged the NCAAs jurisdiction in the case. That led to another hearing, lots of sniping back and forth by the attorneys, and ... well, you get the idea. To get a true glimpse into what this case has become, check here .Clearly, theres no end in sight for this convoluted mess.Meanwhile, Notre Dame is already preparing to appeal the sanctions the NCAA handed down on Tuesday, which included stripping the school of all 21 wins it had during the 2012 and `13 seasons. That wiped out the Fighting Irishs best showing since the 1980s -- a 12-0 regular season and No. 1 ranking before a humiliating 42-14 loss to Alabama in the national championship game. It was another tough blow for the current team, which has endured a 4-7 season heading into Saturdays finale against Southern Cal and faces questions about the future of coach Brian Kelly.Its just a couple of guys made a mistake, and the whole team goes down with it, said offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey, a team captain. We know we won the games. Theyre not going to take that away from us. They can take it away in the record books all they want, but we won the games.The Rev. John Jenkins, Notre Dames president, called it unprecedented to strip a school of wins without serious underlying institutional misconduct. He said the NCAAs ruling wouldnt punish those responsible for the misconduct, but rather will punish coaches, student-athletes and indeed the entire institution who did nothing wrong and, with regard to this case, did everything right.If the folks at Notre Dame sound a bit frustrated, they have every right to be.Theyve felt the wrath of the NCAA, while the Tar Heels remain on the lam.What a travesty.---Paul Newberry is a sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at pnewberry(at)ap.org or at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry .---For more AP college football coverage: www.collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '