In the World Baseball Classic, after losing their first game to Mexico on Friday, 5-2, the United States needed wins over Italy and Canada to advance to the second round. They needed come-from-behind wins over both. Against Italy, the American team erased a 2-0 deficit in the fourth inning, and managed to get past a feisty Italian team, 6-2. Yesterday, Canada had a 2-0 lead until the US tied it in the fourth. Canada retook the lead 3-2, and held that lead until the 8th, when the US scored 3 times, and after four more runs in the ninth, beat the Canadians 9-4. With the win, the US advances to the second round here in Miami, where they will be in the field with Italy, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. On Saturday, Puerto Rico, managed by our old friend, former Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez, eliminated highly favored Venezuela, 6-3, but lost to Dominican Republic last night, 4-2. In Tokyo, on Saturday, Cuba plastered Taiwan by two touchdowns, 14-0, and squared off against the Netherlands this morning to decide who would join Japan in the Championship Round next week in San Francisco. The semifinals in Miami begin tomorrow, at 1:00 pm. Italy faces the Dominican Republic at 1:00 pm, while the US team goes up against Puerto Rico at 8:00 pm. All the games will be broadcast on MLB-TV and ESPN Deportes.
Here is MLB.com’s coverage of the classic:
In Major League exhibition baseball yesterday, the Marlins jumped all over Tim Hudson and the Atlanta Braves up in Lake Buena Vista, coasting to an easy 10-2 win over the Braves. Hudson gave up six runs, all earned, and 9 hits in his five innings of work. Marlins prospect Marcell Ozuna hit a three-run homer in the first inning, and Chone Figgins, who went 4-4, had a two-run single in the second inning. Marlins starter Wade LeBlanc continued his impressive spring with four shutout innings, and he has not given up a run in 3 appearances so far, over a total of 9 innings. The Fish return to Jupiter for a 1:05 pm game today against the Boston Red Sox. Kevin Slowey will toe the rubber for the Marlins, Jon Lester is expected to start for the Red Sox.
Here are all the scores from yesterday’s spring training games. You can “click” on the box scores and the recap under each individual game’s line score.
In other news around the major leagues, CC Sabathia will be making his spring training debut this coming friday against the Marlins in Tampa. Here’s George A. King’s story in the New York Post, along with som other injury updates:
Mariano Rivera officially announced that the 2013 season would be his last. One of the greatest Yankees ever, and the greatest closer the game has ever seen. My favorite stat on Mariano: More men have walked on the moon (12) than have scored a run (11) in the postseason against Mo.
Wallace Matthews of ESPN.com believes that Mariano deserves to be the first player to be unanimously elected to the Hall of Fame in the history of the game. Here’s the complete story:
On Saturday, Mariano saw his first action since his knee injury last season, and, of course, had a perfect 1-2-3 inning against the Atlanta Braves, striking out Juan Francisco and Chris Johnson on called third strikes.
Manny Ramirez Alert!!! Manny is on his way to Taiwan, and will play for the EDA Rhinos in Taiwan this year. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports has the details here:
After a truly incredible 2013 season, in which he was named the American League MVP and was the first triple crown winner in baseball since 1967, Miguel Cabrera is on top of the baseball world. Jayson Starks of ESPN.com talks about Cabrera’s incredible journey:
In Miami Dolphin news, it looks like Reggie Bush will be playing somewhere else next season. The Miami Herald is reporting that three teams contacted Bush once the NFL’s three-day negotiating window opened Saturday at midnight, while the Dolphins have shown no interest in retaining his services. The 28-year-old running back rushed for 2,072 yards and 12 TD’s in two seasons with the Dolphins. The Fins are apparently content to go with Lamar Miller and Daniel Thomas at the RB position next season, barring any free agent surprises or the NFL draft in April.
Alex Marvez of FoxSports.com is reporting that the Dolphins are the early favorites to sign stud free-agent wide receiver Mike Wallace. Here is Marvez’ report:
Sources are reporting that the Fins have also met with the representatives of St. Louis Rams wide receiver Brandon Gibson. Gibson set career highs in all stats last season, with 51 catches for 691 yards and five touchdowns. The NFL free agent officially frenzy begins tomorrow at 4:00 pm, which is the first day that teams can extend formal contract offers to other team’s free agents. It should get interesting.
TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: What Dolphin running back holds the team record for rushing yards in a season? Tell you later, alligator.
The Miami Heat continue to be on a roll. First, on Friday, they defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 102-93 to extend their winning streak to seventeen games. LeBron James led the way with 25 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists. Dwyane Wade finished with 22 ponts, Chris Bosh added 16, while sharpshooters Ray Allen and Shane Battier added 12 and 11 points respectively. Yesterday, the Heat were facing the tough Indiana Pacers, who had already defeated the Heat twice this season, and were the last team to beat Miami before the streak. The streak lives on, as the Heat had their way with the Pacers, 105-91, to record their 18th consecutive victory. It was not the usual cast of characters leading the way, as Mario Chalmers led the Heat with 26 points, while Chris Bosh added 24. Dwyane Wade contributed 23, and LeBron James scored a season-low 13 points in 36 minutes, on 5-10 shooting from the field. LeBron dished out 7 assists and collected 6 rebounds. Miami will try to make it 19 in a row tomorrow night at 7:30 pm, as they host the Atlanta Hawks at the AAA. The game will be televised on Sun Sports and nationally on NBA-TV. After tomorrow’s game against the Hawks, the Heat go on the road for their next five games:
Wednesday March 13 @ Philadelphia
Friday March 15 @ Milwaukee
Sunday March 17 @ Toronto
Monday March 18 @ Boston
Wednesday March 20 @ Cleveland
In the NBA yesterday,
Oklahoma City 91 Boston 79
Kevin Durant had 23 points and 11 rebounds, Russell Westbrook finished with 15 points
LA Lakers 90 Chicago 81
Kobe Bryant had 19 points, Dwight Howard finished with 16 points and 21 rebounds. The Lakers won their third straight game, to improve to 33-31, the first time this season they find themselves at least two games over .500.
Toronto 100 Cleveland 96
Alan Anderson scored 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, Amir Johnson scored 17 points and matched his career-high with 16 rebounds. Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving left the game late in the third quarter with an apparent shoulder injury, and did not return.
Orlando 99 Philadelphia 91
Jamir Nelson led the Magic with 24 points and 10 assists, while Nik Vucevic had 14 points and 17 rebounds.
New Orleans 98 Portland 96
Ryan Anderson’s layup and subsequent foul shot with just over one second left was the game winner. Portland had taken a 96-95 lead with 11 seconds left on a three-pointer by Damian Lillard.
Dallas 100 Minnesota 77
Vince Carter led the way with 22 points and 9 rebounds, Dirk Nowitzki added 16 points in the win.
Milwaukee 115 Sacramento 113
Monta Ellis had 29 points and distributed 9 assists. Sacramento cut a 15-point fourth quarter lead to just 1 point with 6.6 seconds left, but fell just short.
LA Clippers 129 Detroit 97
Blake Griffin scored 22 points, Chris Paul recorded 20 points and 14 assists. Matt Barnes scored 16 points while going 5-5 from behind the 3-point arc, and Caron Butler added 15 points in the win.
TONIGHT IN THE NBA:
Brooklyn @ Philadelphia 7:00 pm
Oklahoma City @ San Antonio 8:30 pm NBA-TV
Detroit @ Utah 9:00 pm
Denver @ Phoenix 10:00 pm
New York @ Golden State 10:30 pm
In college hoops, the University of Miami Hurricanes finished their most successful regular season ever, by defeating Clemson on Saturday, 62-49. The Canes clinched their first conference championship in basketball in their history. Next up for the Canes will be the ACC tournament in Greensboro, NC, where they are the top seed. The Canes’ first game will be on Friday, at 12 noon, on ESPN2, against the winner of the game between Boston College and Georgia Tech on Thursday.
In the Sun Belt conference tournament, the FIU Panthers got off to a good start on Saturday, defeating Arkansas-Little Rock 69-54. Yesterday, the Panthers faced the top seed in the tournament, Middle Tennessee, who came in to the game with a 28-5 record, including the nation’s longest active winning streak at 17 games, and were 19-1 in Sun Belt Conference play. Rookie Head Coach Richard Pitino’s Panthers went out and did the unthinkable, defeating the Blue Raiders, 61-57, and FIU is now one game away from an automatic invitation to the NCAA tournament. FIU will square off against Western Kentucky in the Sun Belt Championship game at 7:00 pm, and you can watch the game on ESPN. Regardless of the outcome, what a season for FIU! I guess it was a really good idea to finally get rid of Isiah Thomas after his disastrous three seasons as the head coach.
In college baseball, the University of Miami beat Duke yesterday, 5-3, to salvage one of the three games. The Canes will host Illinois State here at A-Rod field at Mark Light Stadium tomorrow and Wednesday, and will travel to Chapel Hill to take on North Carolina in a three-game series this weekend. Meanwhile, FIU also was able to salvage one out of three games over the weekend against perennial powerhouse Rice, defeating the Owls 11-7 yesterday. FIU hosts South Florida here at FIU stadium tomorrow and Wednesday, and will hit the road for a weekend series up the road in Boca Raton against FAU.
Tiger Woods won his 17th World Golf Championship title, his 76th victory on the PGA tour. Woods ended the Cadillac Championship at Doral with a 19-under par 269, two strokes better than Steve Stricker, who helped Tiger with his putting game earlier in the week.
THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: What Dolphin running back holds the team record for rushing yards in a season?
The enigmatic one, Ricky Williams, ran for 1,853 yards in 2002 for the Fins. Williams is also the only Dolphins running back to average over 100 yards per game during an entire season, rushing for almost 116 yards per game during that 2002 campaign.
Don’t miss my two “Descarga Deportiva” segments (for the Spanish-challenged, “Sports Jam Session”) every day, Monday through Friday, at 9:25 am and 12:15 pm on Radio Esperanza, 1550 AM or on the internet on www.miradioesperanza.com.
IF YOU OR ANYONE YOU KNOW WANT TO ADVERTISE YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE ON MY RADIO SEGMENTS, PLEASE E-MAIL ME FOR ALL THE DETAILS - jerry@descargadeportiva.com
Behave yourselves, and always remember that tomorrow will bring us a brand new day.
No comments:
Post a Comment