Sports Radio 1400 WSJM @wsjmsports wsjmsports.com Thursday, June 04, 2015
MLB – Major League Baseball
Last Night
Oakland A’s 6, Detroit Tigers 1
Chicago White Sox 9, Texas Rangers 2
Miami Marlins 7, Chicago Cubs 3
A’s 6, Tigers 1 – Gray and A’s send Tigers to 6th straight loss, 6-1
Sonny Gray pitched eight shutout innings and Billy Burns hit a bases-loaded triple as the Oakland Athletics handed the Detroit Tigers their sixth straight loss, 6-1 on Wednesday night. Gray (7-2) had the Tigers beating the ball into the ground all game, with Oakland’s outfielders only making one putout while he was on the mound. He struck out seven and allowed two singles and a walk. Anibal Sanchez (3-7) allowed four runs, five hits and four walks in seven innings. After striking out 20 batters in his previous two starts, he only had one against Oakland. In the second inning, Oakland loaded the bases on a double and two walks, and Burns took an inside pitch the other way for a three-run triple.
White Sox 9, Rangers 2 – Abreu homers, Sale cruises as White Sox top Rangers 9-2
Jose Abreu homered in a six-run second after missing three games with an injured finger, Chris Sale struck out a season-high 13 in seven shutout innings and the Chicago White Sox beat the Texas Rangers 9-2 on Wednesday night. Tyler Flowers added three hits, including a home run, as the White Sox bounced back from a 15-2 loss in the series opener. Sale (5-2) retired the final 14 hitters he faced and struck out Joey Gallo three times before Texas’ top prospect homered again a night after his record-setting debut. Nick Martinez (4-2) allowed nine hits and seven earned runs in 3 1-3 innings, his shortest outing of the season, as the Rangers’ four-game win streak ended.
Marlins 7, Cubs 3 – Benches clear before Marlins beat Cubs 7-3
A bench-clearing confrontation led by injured Miami Marlins ace Jose Fernandez and Chicago Cubs outfielder Junior Lake ended in a standoff. The game went to Miami. Giancarlo Stanton and Jeff Baker hit back-to-back homers for the second time in five days, and the Marlins showed lots of life after two months of often desultory play, beating Chicago 7-3 Wednesday night. The Marlins won their second series in a row after a stretch in which they lost 11 of 13 games and fired manager Mike Redmond. Miami’s feistiness didn’t end with the confrontation. New manager Dan Jennings was ejected in the eighth inning for arguing a call on a checked swing.
Today
Oakland (Hahn 2-5) at Detroit (Greene 4-4), 1:08 p.m. WSJM-AM/WCSY-FM 12:40
Chicago Cubs (Arrieta 4-4) at Washington (G.Gonzalez 4-2), 7:05 p.m.
Chicago White Sox (Rodon 1-0) at Texas (Gallardo 5-6), 8:05 p.m.
MLB – Cubs RF Jorge Soler goes on DL with left ankle injury
Chicago Cubs right fielder Jorge Soler, who leads all NL rookies with 15 hits, has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a left ankle injury. Soler might be ready to return as soon as he’s eligible, manager Joe Maddon said. Soler played in every game until he was hurt when he stepped on first base awkwardly trying to beat out a grounder Monday against the Marlins. Junior Lake started in right field for the second game in a row Wednesday, and Maddon said he’ll be interested to see who emerges in Soler’s absence. One candidate will be outfielder Mike Baxter, who was recalled from Triple-A Iowa 24 hours after being sent down. Soler is batting .265 with four homers and 19 RBIs.
MLB – MLB apologizes to Royals
Major League Baseball apologized to the Kansas City Royals for a breakdown in its replay process during a crucial moment in a 2-1 loss to the Cleveland Indians. The issue occurred in the eighth inning of a tied game Tuesday night when first base umpire Bob Davidson ruled the Indians’ Jose Ramirez beat out a relay throw to prevent a double play. The replays appeared to show Ramirez was out, but the call stood after a nearly 3-minute review. Cleveland wound up scoring the go-ahead run later in the inning. In a statement, MLB said the super slow motion replay was delayed, and the replay official made the call without looking at that replay.
NHL – 2015 Stanley Cup Finals (Best of 7)
Last Night
Chicago Blackhawks 2, Tampa Bay Lightning 1 (CHI Leads 1-0)
Game 1: Blackhawks 2, Lightning 1 – `Finnish cold’ Teravainen comes up big
Teuvo Teravainen and Antoine Vermette scored in the third period, and the Chicago Blackhawks rallied for a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday night. Corey Crawford made 22 saves as Chicago earned its third straight playoff win. Game 2 is Saturday night. Tampa Bay’s Alex Killorn scored on a terrific redirection in the first period, and Ben Bishop had 19 stops for the Lightning. Teravainen tied it with 6:32 remaining by snapping a shot through a screen. Two minutes later, he tapped the puck off the stick off Lightning defenseman J.T. Brown inside the Tampa Bay zone. The puck slid into the slot to Vermette in the slot, where he snapped a shot into the top right corner.
NHL – Penguins for sale
Pittsburgh Penguins co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle have hired investment bank Morgan Stanley to explore their options. The owners say they are in the middle of a feeling out process that could include anything from an outright sale to selling a share of the team or standing pat.
NBA – 2015 NBA Finals (Best of 7)
Tonight
Cleveland Cavaliers at Golden State Warriors, 9:00 p.m. (Game 1)
NBA – Finals begin tonight
The NBA Finals start tonight when Steph Curry, the NBA’s MVP, leads the Golden State Warriors against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Warriors won a league-best 67 games during the regular season, and lost just three times at Oracle Arena all season. Golden State will have All-Star Klay Thompson available for the opening game of the Finals. Thompson has been cleared to return after recovering from a concussion he sustained when he was kneed in the head during the clinching game of the Western Conference final against Houston on Tuesday. He missed two days of practice but returned to the court on Monday and has been symptom free.
NCAA Softball – Florida beats Michigan 4-1 for repeat national title
Florida won its second straight national championship behind Lauren Haeger’s complete game in a 4-1 victory over Michigan on Wednesday night. Haeger allowed five hits and struck out five. She reached base on all four of her plate appearances, earning most outstanding player honors. Florida became just the third program to repeat as Women’s College World Series champion, and the first since Arizona in 2006-07. The Gators (60-7) scored all their runs in the first two innings. Justine McLean had two hits and Taylor Schwarz knocked in two runs for Florida. Michigan (60-8) was going for its first title since 2005. Haylie Wagner, who shut out Florida on Tuesday to keep the Wolverines alive, got the loss. Megan Betsa allowed just one hit and didn’t yield a run in four innings of relief.
NCAA Softball – Women’s College World Series sets attendance, TV records
The Women’s College World Series set an all-time attendance record this year and has set television viewership marks. Total attendance was more than 78,000. The previous record of less than 76,000 was set in 2012. Wednesday’s attendance of 7,680 for Game 3 of the Florida-Michigan series was the fourth-highest total for a deciding game.
Horse Racing – Pharoah draws No. 5 post position
American Pharoah has been made the early 3-5 favorite to win the Belmont Stakes and complete the horse racing Triple Crown. The Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner drew the No. 5 post position for Saturday’s 1 ½ mile race at Belmont Park. Fourteen horses have won from there, including 1977 Triple Crown champion Seattle Slew. Frosted drew the No. 6 post and was installed as the 5-1 second choice. Frosted finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby and is based at Belmont Park, where he has run one race.
Tennis – French Open – Djokovic drops Nadal
The Novak Djokovi-Rafael Nadal quarterfinal at the French Open didn’t produce the kind of fireworks expected. As a matter of fact Djokovic dominated play, winning in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3, 6-1. The loss put an end to Nadal’s 39-match French Open winning streak. Women’s top-seed Serena Williams has advanced to the semifinals at the French Open. In her quarterfinal match with 17th-seed Sara Errani Williams won quite easily 6-1, 6-2. Williams is now two wins away from her 20th Grand Slam championship.
FIFA – Transcript unsealed
Former FIFA executive committee member Chuck Blazer told a U.S. federal judge that he and others on the governing body’s ruling panel agreed to receive bribes to vote for South Africa to host the 2010 World Cup. Prosecutors unsealed the transcript Wednesday of the 2013 hearing in U.S. District Court during which Blazer agreed to plead guilty racketeering and other charges. Blazer, the former No. 2 official of soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean, also said he arranged bribes around 1992 in the vote for which country would host the 1998 World Cup.
IndyCar – IndyCar reduces penalty against Castroneves to 3 points
IndyCar has reduced a penalty levied against Helio Castroneves for triggering an accident on the first lap of the Grand Prix of Indianapolis last month. Castroneves was initially penalized 8 points. After a review by IndyCar last weekend, the series on Tuesday reduced the penalty to 3 points. Castroneves’ penalty had been for avoidable contact, and IndyCar president of competition Derrick Walker said the reduction was to put it in line with previous penalties. IndyCar also fined Stefano Coletti of KV Racing $10,000 and placed him on probation for three races for violating full course yellow conditions last weekend at Detroit. Sage Karam of Chip Ganassi Racing was placed on probation for five races for avoidable contact Sunday at Detroit.
MLS – Arrieta scores twice, rallies DC United over Fire 3-1
Jairo Arrieta scored two goals as D.C. United rolled to a 3-1 comeback victory over the Chicago Fire on Wednesday night. Eastern Conference leader United has won two straight since snapping a three-game winless skid. David Accam scored in the 28th minute to give the Fire a 1-0 halftime lead. It was all United in the second half.
MWL – Midwest League Baseball
Last Night
Quad Cities River Bandits 8, West Michigan Whitecaps 1
Cedar Rapids Kernels 9, South Bend Cubs 5
Burlington Bees 6, Lansing Lugnuts 3
Great Lakes Loons 4, Peoria Chiefs 2
Today
Quad Cities River Bandits at West Michigan Whitecaps, 7:00 p.m.
Peoria Chiefs at Great Lakes Loons, 7:05 p.m.
Burlington Bees at Lansing Lugnuts, 7:05 p.m.
Cedar Rapids Kernels at South Bend Cubs, 7:05 p.m.