Greg Johnson's double raise double takeout in the 10th end put an exclamation point on the U.S. victory allowing Birr to make a clutch hit to win the game and improve to 5-3 in the round robin. "Hey, that's what I'm here for," said Johnson, who shot a scorching 94 percent today. The U.S. will next battle undefeated Canada as the hip-checking for playoff spots heats up.

Birr (Mankato, Minn.) and teammates Bill Todhunter (Menasha, Wis.), Johnson (Appleton, Wis.) and Kevin Birr (St. Peter, Minn.) worked diligently for the deuce catching a break in the second end. A perfect hit and roll by Todhunter helped ensure the deuce despite his snafu with his next toss that saw his draw go out the back of the house. But, Andy Kapp failed to raise the guard into the U.S. shot stone and Birr eventually made a hit and stick to take a 2-0 lead.

Germany's hopes for a deuce were thwarted in the third end when Andy Kapp wrecked on his own stone in the top of the house as he tried to freeze down to the U.S. shot rock frozen to a German stone in the back of the house. Birr drew in a stone on the opposite side of the rings in the four foot. Kapp attempted the risky double and missed the second U.S. stone and rolled out giving the Americans a steal of one.

The Americans had Kapp and company on the edge again in the fourth end until Uuli Kapp blasted some granite removing four U.S. stones to leave just one lonely American rock touching the four foot. Birr guarded his stone with his first shot with Kapp following behind with a hit and roll to leave his shooter guarded on the right side of the house. Birr made a perfect come-around draw to bury behind his center guard on the button. Kapp came in just a little wide and just nudged the U.S. rock and Todhunter swept his shooter stone out for another steal of one.

"At the beginning, we just didn't have the breaks," Andy Kapp said. "Instead of being down zero-four, it should have been two-one or tied. It was a tough start but a great fight."

A lot of rocks were in play in the fifth end but the U.S. held on to shot rock and were sitting two after Birr made a takeout of the German stone in the eight foot. (Birr's first stone jammed spilling out a U.S. stone and his shooter but Kapp slid through the house trying to get shot rock.) Kapp was able to chip out the U.S. stones for the deuce.

The U.S. team got into a bit of a jam in the sixth end after Birr's attempt to remove two German stones backfired leaving him to make a hit to score just one. But, the Americans held Germany to one in the next end to maintain a comfortable lead. Kapp needed to tap back the U.S. shot rock that Birr tucked perfectly behind the guard with his last stone to score two but rolled his shooter too far and nearly gave up a steal.

The U.S. made a hit for one in the eighth end after Kapp froze his last stone to the U.S. rock in the back of the house. Needing three points to tie, Kapp split on a guard to lie three with his first shot after Birr opted to peel a guard with his first shot. Birr tried the double but hit it too firm and rolled out his shooter giving Kapp an open draw to tie the game.

After Germany got two stones tucked behind guards in the 10th, Johnson took the pressure off the American skip with the heralded quadruple. Kapp froze down to the U.S. stone so Birr opted to chip it out for the win.

"We're playing well," Birr said. "We're playing the game we want to play and finding success. The people that know us, which aren't many, know how we play. We've started slow in every tournament we've played in this year. It just takes awhile for us to get comfortable with the ice and the surroundings. It's so much fun to play in front of a crowd like this."

Live and on-demand video streaming from the Men's World Curling Championship is available through a partnership between USA Curling, the World Curling Federation, NBCSports.com and MediaZone. More details can be found at www.usacurl.org.
College Sports TV (CSTV) will air highlights from the Women's Worlds on April 19 at 9 p.m. ET and from the Men's Worlds on April 26 at 9 p.m. ET.
Game scores: USA 7, Germany 6; Norway 7, Korea 2; France 7, Australia 3; Switzerland 6, Scotland 4

USA line score:
*USA 021 101 010 1 7
GER 000 020 103 0 6
*designates last-rock advantage in first end

Round robin standings
Canada 7-0
France 5-3
Germany 5-3
Switzerland 5-3
USA 5-3
Sweden 4-3
Norway 4-4
Finland 3-4
Australia 3-5
Denmark 2-5
Scotland 2-6
Korea 1-7

USA Curling is sponsored by AIT Worldwide Logistics, AmerAust Technologies and Nike as well as by AT&T, General Motors, The Home Depot, and Bank of America through a joint marketing program with the U.S. Olympic Committee.

For more information: Terry Luder, USA Curling, terry.luder@usacurl.org, 608-338-9900 (cell).