Brewers, Diamondbacks pull off six-player trade
The Arizona Diamondbacks acquired left-hander Doug Davis from Milwaukee on Saturday in a six-player deal that sent catcher Johnny Estrada to the Brewers.
Right-handers Greg Aquino and Claudio Vargas also went to Milwaukee, while the Diamondbacks obtained a pair of youngsters, left-hander Dana Eveland and outfielder Dave Krynzel.
The 31-year-old Davis is 62-63 with a 4.35 ERA in eight major league seasons. He was 11-11 with a 4.91 ERA in 34 starts last season with Milwaukee and, like Estrada, is arbitration eligible.
The 30-year-old Estrada hit .301 with 11 home runs and 71 RBIs during his only season with Arizona. The switch-hitting former All-Star had the sixth-best batting average among N.L. catchers.
“With the addition of Doug we have three perennial 200-inning guys who more often than not are lower ERA guys,” Diamondbacks general manager Josh Byrnes said. “I think our rotation is really stabilized at the top and we have some good intriguing younger pitchers to battle for two spots.”
Estrada was acquired by the Diamondbacks in a trade with Atlanta a year ago. Despite his success at the plate, he was unhappy in Arizona and made it clear late in the season he would prefer to move on.
Skiing
Buechel wins downhill
Liechtenstein’s Marco Buechel gave his father a birthday gift on the slopes in Lake Louise, Alberta, winning a World Cup downhill by five-hundredths of a second.
Buechel dedicated the victory to his father, Norbert, who turned 60 on Saturday, after winning in 1 minute, 50.72 seconds. Canadian Manuel Osborne-Paradis was second in 1:50.77 and Peter Fill of Italy was third in 1:50.86.
The top American was Steven Nyman, who was 17th in 1:51.99. Bode Miller was 29th in 1:52.48.
“Kathrin Zettel of Austria got her first career World Cup victory, winning a women’s giant slalom in Aspen, Colo.
American Olympic gold medalist Julia Mancuso, who underwent surgery in July for a chronic hip problem, was seventh, more than three seconds off the pace.
Zettel finished with a combined time of 2 minutes, 16.10 seconds to edge Olympic silver medalist Tanja Poutiainen of Finland.
Skating
Frenchman takes first
Brian Joubert of France took his second Grand Prix gold of the year, beating out Johnny Weir with an exuberant free skate at the Cup of Russia in Moscow.
He finished more than 40 points ahead of Weir. Russia’s Ilya Klimkin took the bronze.
In the women’s event, Sarah Meier of Switzerland easily won the free skate event to wrap up the overall gold medal.
Hungary’s Julia Sebestyen was second and Japan’s Yoshie Onda took third.
Volleyball
Brazil downs U.S.
Brazil defeated the United States in straight sets at the men’s volleyball world championships in Hiroshima, Japan.
Brazil, the World and Olympic champion, coasted to a 25-19, 25-18, 25-23 win over the Americans and improved to 3-1. The U.S. fell to 1-3.
Boxing
Krzysztof triumphs
Poland’s Krzysztof Wlodarczyk outpointed American Steve Cunningham in Warsaw, Poland, to capture the vacant IBF cruiserweight title.
German judge Wilfred Rollert scored the fight 116-112 for Wlodarczyk, while Polish judge Wlodzimierz Kromka had it at 115-113 for the Pole. American judge Charlie Dwier scored the fight 119-109 for Cunningham.