The first World Baseball Classic semifinal game was last night in San Francisco, as Puerto Rico took on the two-time winners of the Classic, Japan. There will not be a third championship for Japan, as Edwin Rodriguez’ Puerto Rican team defeated the overwhelming favorites, 3-1. Remember, this Puerto Rican team didn’t even practice as a team until they convened in Fort Myers on the March 4th. What a job by our old friend, Edwin Rodriguez. Alex Rios connected long distance with a runner on base, and Mike Aviles singled in the game’s first run. The Puerto Rican bullpen was the difference, getting out of jams after starter Mario Santiago had to leave the game in the fifth inning with a forearm injury. The bullpen gave up one run in 4 2/3 innings for PR to advance to the championship game. Tonight, Dominican Republic squares off against the Netherlands to determine who plays Puerto Rico. The DR is looking for revenge after getting eliminated by the Netherlands back in 2009. Game time tonight is 9:00 pm, and you can watch the game on MLB Network and ESPN Deportes on your satellite or cable system. The winner of tonight’s encounter will face Puerto Ricoin the Championship game tomorrow night, starting at 8:00 pm.
Just an observation: The three managers that the Marlins fired have now won a world series (Joe Girardi), took his team to the playoffs last year (Fredi Gonzalez), and led a prohibitive underdog over the two-time defending champion, Japan, to the finals of the WBC (Edwin Rodriguez). I am not including last year’s manager, Ozzie Guillen, in this equation because he is still being paid by the Marlins for NOT managing them, and laughing all the way to the bank every payday.
Here is MLB.com’s coverage of the classic:
In exhibition baseball, the Marlins blanked the St. Louis Cardinals yesterday, 8-0. Ricky Nolasco threw six shutout innings, allowing just 6 hits, while striking out five. Nolasco threw 55 of his 75 pitches for strikes. Catcher Rob Brantly drove in three runs with three singles. Giancarlo Stanton and Steve Chisek returned to action after the WBC. The man-child had two hits and a walk, while Chisek threw a scoreless inning in relief. Nathan Eovaldi will take the mound this afternoon for the Marlins in Fort Myers, as they take on the Minnesota Twins. Game time is 1:05 pm.
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 baseball news, the Hall of Fame is going to honor Dr. Frank Jobe, who developed the procedure commonly referred to as “Tommy John” surgery. Here’s the rest of the story:
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/9057678/hall-fame-honor-dr-frank-jobe-developer-tommy-john-surgery
As I’ve been saying all spring, the Cincinnati Reds are making a mistake in moving Aroldis Chapman from his closer’s role back to being a starter. It now seems that Aroldis agrees with me:
ESPN.com is reporting that the injury to the Yankees’ Mark Teixeira is more serious than what was originally reported, and it could end up requiring season-ending surgery:
In NFL news, the league’s annual meeting kicks off this morning in Phoenix, Arizona. Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald is blogging from Phoenix:
Free agent offensive tackle Jake Long decided to accept a new contract from the St. Louis Rams. The deal is for 4 years, and could be worth up to $36 million. The Fins were not willing to go that high for a guy that was injured a lot the last two seasons, and struggled in the team’s new offense, which employs a zone blocking scheme. Back to Armando Salguero of the Herald, who had an opinion about signing Elvis Dumervil if Long ended up leaving:
What’s next for the Miami Dolphins? Ben Volin of the Palm Beach Post gives us his take:
In my opinion, the Dolphins should sign free agent tackle Eric Winston and use one of their five picks in the first three rounds of next month’s draft to address the tackle position for the future.
TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: The Dolphins took OT Jake Long with the overall first pick in the 2008 draft. Which all-pro QB was taken two picks later? Tell you later, alligator.
I hope this doesn’t come as a total shock to anyone, but the Miami Heat extended their winning streak to 22 games this weekend. On Friday, they took care of the Milwaukee Bucks, 107-94. LeBron James and Chris Bosh each scored 28 points, and Dwayne Wade added 20 in the win. Yesterday afternoon, they were in Toronto and took care of business against the Raptors, 108-91. Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 24 points and nine assists, while LeBron James came close to another triple-double with 22 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists. Chris Bosh contributed 18 points against his former team, which has now fallen 11 straight times to Miami. The Heat’s 22 game streak is the second longest in NBA history, behind only the LA Lakers’ streak of 33 straight victories back in 1971-72. Another difficult road test tonight for the Heat, as they are in Boston to face the Celtics. Game time tonight is 8:00 pm, and you can watch it on Sun Sports, or catch the national telecast on ESPN. The Heat will end their road trip on Wednesday, in Cleveland, against the Cavaliers, and will return home for a Friday meeting with the Detroit Pistons.
In the rest of the NBA yesterday,
Milwaukee 115 Orlando 109
Monta Ellis scored 25 of his game-high 39 points in the fourth quarter. Brandon Jennings had 15 points and dished out 14 assists in the win.
LA Clippers 93 New York 80
Chris Paul led the way with 20 points and Caron Butler added 14 points. The Knicks were playing without Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler.
Golden State 108 Houston 78
Stephen Curry had 29 points, Klay Thompson chipped in with 26 points.
Minnesota 97 New Orleans 95
Derrick Williams led the T-Wolves with a career high 29 points, Ricky Rubio had 16 points and dished out 6 assists.
Oklahoma City 107 Dallas 101
Kevin Durant came through in the fourth quarter, scoring 19 of his 31 points in the final frame. Russell Westbrook led the way with 35 points.
Atlanta 105 Brooklyn 93
Al Horford had 22 points and 11 rebounds, Josh Smith added 21 points and collected seven rebounds.
LA Lakers 113 Sacramento 102
No Kobe Bryant, no Pau Gasol . . . no problems last night for the Lakers. Antwan Jamison scored 27 points, Metta World Peace (the artist formerly known as Ron Artest) added 22 in the win. Terrific guard play last night, as Steve Nash finished with 19 points and 12 assists, while Stevie Blake had 16 points and 8 assists.
TONIGHT IN THE NBA:
Miami @ Boston 8:00 pm Sun Sports, ESPN
Portland @ Philadelphia 7:00 pm
Washington @ Charlotte 7:00 pm
Indiana @ Cleveland 7:00 pm
Dallas @ Atlanta 7:30 pm
Brooklyn @ Detroit 7:30 pm
Denver @ Chicago 8:00 pm
Minnesota @ Memphis 8:00 pm
Golden State @ New Orleans 8:00 pm
LA Lakers @ Phoenix 10:00 pm
New York @ Utah 10:30 pm ESPN
In college hoops, the University of Miami Hurricanes are the champions of the ACC. The Canes defeated North Carolina in the ACC title game, 87-77. Shane Larkin, baseball hall of famer Barry Larkin’s son, scored eight of his career high 28 points in the final 2 1/2 minutes of the game to lead the Canes to the win. They were deserving of a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament, but had to settle for the #2 seed in the East Regional. UM’s first game in the tournament will be this Friday, the 22nd, against Pacific. The top seeds in the four different regionals are Indiana (East Regional), Kansas (South Regional), Louisville (Midwest Regional), and Gonzaga (Western Regional). March Madness is upon us. I absolutely LOVE the NCAA Tournament.
Here’s the Bracket:
Go ahead, print out the bracket and make your picks. I’ll give you my picks later on this week, but I’ll give you a strong upset pick right here and now...in the West Regional, watch for #12 seed Ole Miss to knock off #5 seed Wisconsin in their game on Friday. Remember: NO WAGERING, PLEASE.
In college baseball, FIU salvaged one of the three games this weekend in Boca Raton against Florida Atlantic, pummeling the Owls yesterday, 12-1. The Panthers hit the road again for a Wednesday game against #23 ranked Florida Gulf Coast in Fort Myers, before returning home for a three-game weekend series against Western Kentucky. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes also lost two out of three this weekend against North Carolina in Chapel Hill. The Canes will be back home all week, as they face Columbia on Tuesday and Wednesday, and take on Virginia Tech this weekend in a three-game set.
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.
THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: The Dolphins took OT Jake Long with the overall first pick in the 2008 draft. Which all-pro QB was taken two picks later?
Atlanta selected QB Matt Ryan with the third selection of the draft. Other notable offensive players selected in the first round included Baltimore Ravens Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco, and Tennessee Titans RB Chris Johnson. By the way, the second round didn’t go any better for the Fins, who selected someone named Philip Merling with the 32nd overall pick, while later on in the second round we saw true impact players and perennial all pros like RB Matt Forte, WR DeSean Jackson, and RB Ray Rice get drafted by the Bears, Eagles, and Ravens, respectively. Let’s hope this year’s draft goes a lot better for the Dolphins.
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Behave yourselves, and always remember that tomorrow will bring us a brand new day.
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