Friday, April 19, 2013


After allowing only one run in his first two starts in the major leagues this season, Jose Fernandez looked to continue against the Reds, facing a pitcher that was making his first major league start, Tony Cingrani.  No such luck as the 20-year old righthander gave up five runs, six hits, and walked three in four innings.  Cingrani pitched five innings, and had no trouble with the anemic Marlins, striking out eight in those five innings.  His only blemish was a Justin Ruggiano home run.  By the way, can anybody explain to me why Ruggiano isn’t hitting fourth, behind the Man-Child?  Tonight, again starting at 7:10 pm, the Reds will send South Florida product Mat Latos to the hill, and the Marlins will counter with Kevin Slowey.  You can watch the game on Fox Sports Florida.  The Marlins placed shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria on the disabled list, replacing him with Nick Green, up from AAA New Orleans.  

The Fish are still bringing up the rear in MLB in runs scored, with a grand total of 32 runs in their first 15 games, but we do offer a.  warm welcome to the overpriced and overrated LA Angels of Anaheim, who make their first appearance on this list.  See...it doesn’t matter how much money you spend - if you’re incompetent, you’re incompetent.  I will be posting the “bottom five” rankings in runs scored until the Marlins aren’t on the list.  

TEAM W-L Runs
Marlins 3-13 33
Dodgers 7-8 41
Cubs 5-9 50
Rays 5-10 51
Angels 4-10 52

In the rest of MLB yesterday, first in the National League,

Brewers 7         Giants 2
Yovani Gallardo allowed one run and five hits in six innings, and homered against Matt Cain.  Ryan Braun and Jonathan Lucroy also connected long distance.

Cubs 6 Rangers 2
Alfonso Soriano and Anthony Rizzo connected home runs, Rizzo’s was with a man on and was estimated at 475 feet.

Rockies 11 Mets 3
Troy Tulowitzki, Dexter Fowler, and Josh Rutledge all connected long distance in the win.

Braves 6 Pirates 4
“El Oso Blanco”, Evan Gattis, hit a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the eighth inning to break a 4-4 tie.  Chris Johnson, BJ Upton and Justin Upton also homered.  Justin Upton leads the majors with 9 home runs.

Cardinals 4 Phillies 3
Carlos Beltran’s homer in the top of the eighth was the difference

Over in the American League:

Orioles 10 Rays 6 (10)
Matt Wieters ended the game with a grand slam in the bottom of the tenth inning.

D-Backs 6 Yankees 2 (12)
Cody Ross singled in the go-ahead run in the 12th inning, Eric Chavez followed him with a three-run double to clinch the win.

Red Sox 6 Indians 3
Jon Lester improved to 3-0, allowing only 2 runs and 4 hits in seven innings.  Jarod Saltalamacchia hit a tie-breaking home run in the fourth inning.  Daniel Nava drove in a couple of runs in the win.

Blue Jays 3 White Sox 1
RA Dickey threw six shutout innings, allowing only two hits.

Mariners 2 Tigers 0
Kyle Seager’s pinch-hit RBI double in the seventh inning broke a scoreless tie as the Mariners beat Justin Verlander.

Today’s games, first in the National League:

Braves @ Pirates 7:05 pm
Tim Hudson vs Wandy Rodriguez

Cardinals @ Phillies 7:05 pm
Jaime Garcia vs Roy Halladay

Nationals @ Mets 7:10 pm
Stephen Strasburg vs Matt Harvey

Cubs @ Brewers 8:10 pm
Jeff Samardzija vs Marco Estrada

D-Backs @ Rockies 8:40 pm
Ian Kennedy vs Jhoulis Chacin

Padres @ Giants       10:15 pm
Edinson Volquez @ Madison Bumgarner

Over in the American League:

Dodgers @ Orioles 7:05 pm
Hyun-Jin Ryu vs Jason Hammel

Yankees @ Blue Jays 7:07 pm
Andy Pettitte vs Brandon Morrow

Royals @ Red Sox 7:10 pm
James Shields vs Clay Buchholz

Athletics @ Rays 7:10 pm
Brett Anderson vs Alex Cobb

Mariners @ Rangers 8:05 pm
Joe Saunders vs Yu Darvish

Indians @ Astros 8:10 pm
Brett Myers vs Lucas Harrell

Twins @ White Sox 8:10 pm
Vance Worley vs Jake Peavy

Tigers @ Angels       10:05 pm
Anibal Sanchez vs Tommy Hanson

Bryan Hoch of MLB.com has the story that Derek Jeter will be out at least until after the All Star break.  


Here are the individual league leaders in MLB:


The NBA Playoffs begin tomorrow, and most of us are only interested in the 7:00 pm game on Sunday, when the Heat host the Milwaukee Bucks.  

Here are the Las Vegas odds to win the NBA championship:

EAST WEST

Miami          2-3 Oklahoma City 17-4
NY Knicks   16-1 San Antonio      10-1
Indiana       25-1 Denver            25-1
Brooklyn     60-1 LA Clippers       25-1
Chicago      60-1 Memphis          40-1
Atlanta 150-1 Golden State 100-1
Boston        66-1 LA Lakers         40-1
Milwaukee 500-1 Houston 100-1

Here is my preview of each series:

Eastern Conference

#1 Miami Heat (66-16) vs #8 Milwaukee Bucks (37-45)

Miami beat Milwaukee three out of four games this season.  The Heat’s .805 winning percentage was impressive enough, much more when they are facing the only team to make it into the playoffs with a losing record.  Miami should coast in this series, possibly a sweep.

#2 New York Knicks (54-28) vs #7 Boston Celtics (41-40)

No love lost between these two teams, especially Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Garnett.  Boston knows how to win in the playoffs, and a veteran team like this isn’t going down without a fight.  The Celtics played well after losing point guard Rajon Rondo to a season-ending injury, and the Knicks have been on a tear as well.  If the Celtics can steal a game in New York, look out.  

#3 Indiana Pacers (49-32) vs #6 Atlanta Hawks (44-38)

This will probably be a very competitive series.  The teams split their season series this year and the favored Pacers struggled at the end of the year, losing five of six games.  I like the Hawks’ chances, but the series should go Indiana’s way.

#4 Brooklyn Nets (49-33) vs #5 Chicago Bulls (45-37)
The Nets can score, the Bulls can defend.  Chicago won the season series, 3-1, but the Nets have gotten better as the season went on.  I’m going with Brooklyn in this series, in an upset.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

#1 Oklahoma City (60-22) vs #8 Houston Rockets (45-37)

OkC doesn’t have James Harden anymore, he now plays for Houston.  The Thunder still have Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, and that should be enough to get past the Rockets in this first-round series.

#2 San Antonio Spurs (58-24) vs #7 Los Angeles Lakers (45-37)

Two aging teams face each other, teams that have had to battle injuries all year.  Manu Ginobili is struggling with a hamstring injury, Tony Parker has been battling an injured ankle.  Tim Duncan is just old.  The Lakers are missing Kobe Bryant, but they do have Steve Nash, Dwight Howard, and Pau Gasol.  I love the Spurs, but the Lakers scare me.  San Antonio in a closely-fought series.

#3 Denver Nuggets (57-25) vs #6 Golden State Warriors (47-35)

This one is going to be fun to watch.  Although Denver won the season series, 3-1, Golden State, with Stephen Curry and David Lee can score points at will, and will have no problem in engaging the Nuggets in a track meet.  Winning in Denver, in the altitude, is still tough, so I’ll take Denver, but not with great conviction.

#4 Los Angeles Clippers (56-26) vs #5 Memphis Grizzlies (56-26)

The Clippers finally won the Pacific Division after a lifetime of looking up at the Lakers.  Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are awesome, but Memphis plays great defense and Zach Randolph has developed into one of the league’s best players and guard Mike Conley will make Paul work hard for his money.  I’m taking the Grizzlies in an upset.
   
Here is this weekend’s schedule of games:

SATURDAY

Boston @ New York 3:00 pm ABC
Golden State @ Denver 5:30 pm ESPN
Chicago @ Brooklyn 8:00 pm ESPN
Memphis @ LA Clippers      10:30 pm ESPN

SUNDAY

Atlanta @ Indiana 1:00 pm TNT
LA Lakers @ San Antonio 3:30 pm ABC
Milwaukee @ MIAMI 7:00 pm TNT
Houston @ Oklahoma City      9:30 pm TNT

Here are the final individual stats in the NBA:


The NFL regular season schedule was announced yesterday.  Here’s the Dolphins schedule, and it includes a minimum of three prime-time games:

Sunday September 8 at Cleveland 1:00 pm
Sunday September 15 at Indianapolis 1:00 pm
Sunday September 22 Atlanta 4:05 pm
Monday September 30 at New Orleans 8:40 pm Sunday October 6 Baltimore 1:00 pm
Sunday October 13 BYE
Sunday October 20 Buffalo 1:00 pm
Sunday October 27 at New England 1:00 pm
Thursday October 31 Cincinnati  8:25 pm
Monday November 11 at Tampa Bay 8:40 pm
Sunday November 17 San Diego 1:00 pm*
Sunday November 24 Carolina  1:00 pm*
Sunday  December 1 at New York Jets 1:00 pm*
Sunday  December 8 at Pittsburgh 1:00 pm*
Sunday  December 15 New England 1:00 pm*
Sunday  December 22 at Buffalo 1:00 pm*
Sunday  December 29 New York Jets 1:00 pm*

*Games are subject to “flex scheduling” by the NFL

Draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN plays General Manager, making picks for each team (first three rounds) as if he were the GM.  


Kiper Jr. also brings us a breakdown of what he feels are some dilemmas in the first round:


In college baseball this weekend, FIU is in Murfreesboro, TN to take on Middle Tennessee in a three-game series this weekend.  The Canes are at home this weekend to play Clemson in a three-game series.  

Here is the web site for all the latest in High School Baseball - 


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:  This week, we celebrated Jackie Robinson Day in tribute to being the first black player in the Major Leagues when he joined the then Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947.  What team was the last major league team to integrate and who was that team’s first black player?       

Pumpsie Green, an infielder, joined the Boston Red Sox on July 21, 1959         

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. 
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)