Minnesota

By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff The Red Sox were interested in former Detroit reliever Joel Zumaya, but not enough to keep him away from the Twins. MLB.com reports that Minnesota signed the righthander to a one-year deal worth $800,000 with a possible $900,000 in incentives. Zumaya was a stud for the Tigers in his rookie season of 2006, appearing in 62 games. He struck out 97 in 83.1 innings and had one of the best fastballs in the game. He has appeared in only 109 games since, his career undone by a series of injuries.

Gavin Floyd just can't find a way to beat the Twins. The White Sox right-hander dropped his eighth straight start against Minnesota on Tuesday, getting roughed up in a 9-2 loss to open a three-game series. Floyd (3-5) lasted just 3 ⅔ innings, gave up eight hits and nine earned runs and suffered his second straight loss. He was at a loss to explain the Twins' continued success. "I guess I've got to figure that out," Floyd said. "I wish I could pinpoint certain things … They have a good game plan against me apparently and I've got to change that and try to get...

By the start of overtime, Gophers forward Evan Kaufmann had seen enough of Maine goalie Jimmy Howard's glove. So he tried something new the next time he got the puck, and it gave Minnesota a 1-0 win yesterday in the NCAA West Regional in Minneapolis. Kaufmann took a pass from Garrett Smaagaard and blasted a rising shot from the top of the crease, finding a gap on Howard's stick side 1:46 into the extra frame. "We had been getting nothing all game going to his glove side," said Kaufmann, a freshman.

Jim Leyland mentioned before Wednesday night's game that although the Detroit Tigers were struggling, they weren't playing sloppy baseball. Then the veteran manager watched his team make four errors in the first three innings. "I probably jinxed us when we said we weren't kicking the ball around, because we did that tonight," Leyland said. Jamey Carroll hit a two-run double in the sixth inning to give Minnesota the lead, and the Twins outlasted the Tigers 11-7 on Wednesday night.

Brian Rolston's shootout goal for Minnesota was the difference in the Wild's 7-6 victory over the Predators last night in Nashville. Rolston scored in the second extra round of the tiebreaker after Nashville's Paul Kariya squandered a chance to win the game with a penalty shot with 38 seconds left in overtime. After Rolston's goal gave the Wild a 3-2 lead in the shootout, Josef Vasicek couldn't find the net on the Predators' final shot. Nashville scored three goals in each of the first two periods, but the Wild responded with five goals over the final 40 minutes to force overtime.

The Bruins have acquired Greg Zanon from Minnesota. The Wild have received Steven Kampfer in return. "Zanon is a terrific shot-blocker," said GM Peter Chiarelli. "He's a really gritty competitor. He's a warrior type of defenseman. " Zanon is a left-shot stay-at-home defenseman. Zanon will be the short-term fill-in for Johnny Boychuk, who is out with a concussion. Given the nature of head injuries, it's difficult to pinpoint when Boychuk might return. "He's a warrior," said Peter Fish, Zanon's agent.

Northeastern took a 3-1 lead early in the third period and survived a late goal by Minnesota to beat the Gophers 3-2 Saturday in the championship game of the Mariucci Classic. Garrett Vermeersch scored the game-winner on the power play at 14:23 of the third period, giving the Huskies (8-7-3) a 3-1 lead. The second-ranked Gophers (15-6-1) pulled within a goal on Taylor Matson's short-handed tally at 19:42. Minnesota's first goal by Nate Condon in the first period also was short-handed and gave the Gophers a 1-0 lead.

DULUTH, Minn. - Sarah Erickson scored two goals, Noora Raty stopped 42 shots, and Minnesota beat Wisconsin, 4-2, in the NCAA women's hockey final on Sunday. Amanda Kessel and Emily West also scored for Minnesota, which won its third national title and first since 2004-05. After falling behind, 2-0, midway through the first period, Wisconsin (33-5-2) rallied behind goals from Stefanie McKeough and Brooke Ammerman. The Badgers had a chance to grab the lead at the end of the first, but failed to score on a five-on-three power play.

Federal regulators have cited Xcel Energy Inc. for a security violation at its Prairie Island nuclear plant in Minnesota. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission provided few details in Thursday's filing. But it says inspectors deemed it had "at least low to moderate security significance. " NRC spokeswoman Viktoria Mitlyng says the security issue was spotted during an October inspection and was corrected immediately. Xcel wasn't fined, but she says the agency will conduct follow-up inspections.

After filing two separate antitrust lawsuits against the league in different states, NBA players are consolidating their efforts and have turned to the courts in Minnesota as their chosen venue. A group of named plaintiffs including Carmelo Anthony, Steve Nash and Kevin Durant filed an amended federal lawsuit against the league in Minnesota on Monday, hoping the courts there will be as favorable to them as they have been to NFL players in the past. The locked-out players filed class-action antitrust suits against the league last Tuesday in California and Minnesota.

Ricky Romero had his shortest outing since opening day, and the Blue Jays' rally fell just short. Yunel Escobar and Eric Thames knocked in runs for Toronto, which had the tying run on third base in the eighth inning, but the Jays lost 4-3 to Minnesota on Sunday, settling for a split of their four-game series. Romero allowed nine hits in 5 1-3 innings, walked five and did not strike out a batter for the first time in 101 career starts. He threw only 51 of his 99 pitches for strikes.

At 7 feet 8 inches, Igor Vovkovinskiy has to have clothes custom-made for him. It may take a while, but eventually he gets shirts, pants, even socks that fit him. But shoes are another matter. For years, Vovkovinskiy has had to put up with ill-fitting shoes that have led to serious medical problems with his feet and legs. Even after numerous surgeries, Vovkovinskiy is often in such pain that he rarely goes outside. But on Thursday, the 29-year-old Minnesota resident - the Guinness Book of World Records says he is the tallest man in the United States - ended a painful odyssey when he...

A long-awaited vote on a nearly $1 billion plan to build a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings will be held next week, top GOP lawmakers decided Thursday — with the fate of the public-private venture impossible to predict. Republicans, who control the Legislature, scrapped their last-minute proposal that would have slashed the state's share of the $975 million stadium. They then scheduled Monday votes in the House and Senate on an existing plan backed by Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton that heavily relies on tax revenue from gambling, which GOP...

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Jered Weaver pitched the second no-hitter in the majors in less than two weeks, completely overmatching Minnesota and leading the Los Angeles Angels to a 9-0 win over the Twins on Wednesday night. Weaver struck out nine and walked one. The Twins never came close to getting a hit against the All-Star right-hander. ‘‘It was an easy ride," Weaver said. Phil Humber of the Chicago White Sox threw a perfect game at Seattle on April 21. Weaver (4-0)

NEW YORK —Six weeks after saying goodbye to Peyton Manning, the Indianapolis Colts handed Andrew Luck a blue and white jersey and the daunting task of leading a rebuilding team as its quarterback for the next decade. Luck couldn't have chosen a tougher act to follow, but many believe he is the most NFL-ready passer to enter the league since Manning went No. 1 overall in 1998. All Manning did was win an unprecedented four MVP awards and a Super Bowl for Indy. ‘‘You don't really replace a guy like that," Luck said.

Accretive fell the most since its May 2010 debut as a public company after Minnesota's attorney general, Lori Swanson, sued the Chicago company, alleging it put debt collectors in emergency rooms and at patients' bedsides in violation of federal and state debt-collection and privacy laws. She said employees at Fairview Health Services, a Minnesota hospital chain, had to use a computer system derisively called Blue Balls to track whether patients paid their bills and push for payment before they got care.

Trevor Mbakwe had 22 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks to lift Minnesota to a 72-60 exhibition victory over Augustana (SD) on Monday night. The Golden Gophers blocked 13 shots, but trailed at halftime and never could pull away from the feisty Division II school. Drae Murray scored 19 of his 22 points in the first half and Cody Schilling had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Vikings, who were down just three with 4:30 to play. But the Gophers closed the game on a 9-0 run to put the game away, exhaling after another unconvincing exhibition victory.

James Shields carried a three-hitter into the ninth inning, B.J. Upton had a key two-run single and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Minnesota Twins 4-1 on Saturday night. Shields (3-0) allowed one run and five hits over eight-plus innings while winning his third consecutive start after getting a no-decision on opening day against the New York Yankees. Upton's two-out hit off Carl Pavano (1-2) gave the Rays a 3-0 lead in the sixth. Another run scored on the play when center fielder Denard Span was charged with a throwing error attempting to cut down Matt Joyce at third.