LeBron James scored 16 of his game high 30 points in the third quarter, leading the Heat to a 90-79 win over the Indiana Pacers in game five of their Eastern Conference finals series. The Pacers were up 46-40 early in the third quarter, but that is when Miami took over. The Heat outscored the Pacers 30-10 over the next eleven minutes, with LeBron scoring or accounting for 25 of those points, shooting 7-10 in the quarter, distributing 4 assists, and grabbing four rebounds. Udonis Haslem also had a big third quarter, as he scored 10 points. Miami led 70-56 after the third quarter, and cruised home for the win. Game six of this series will be on Saturday, with tipoff at 8:30 pm. You can watch it on TNT on your cable or satellite system. I’m sticking by my original pick - Miami in six games, so that means that the series ends tomorrow. The San Antonio Spurs are waiting in the wings.
Let’s talk Dolphins. Second-year running back Lamar Miller hopes to lead a revamped running game this year:
Some more Dolphin news from camp and this week’s OTA’s:
NOTE TO THE MIAMI HERALD: Let's get on the ball, and bring Armando Salguero back as soon as possible. Although I don't always agree with the man, he is very competent and brings some passion to covering the Dolphins, a team that only now is beginning to be at the point where they deserve love and passion from their fans.
The Marlins lost their ninth straight game last night, falling to the Tampa Bay Rays 5-2. Alex Colome made his major league debut for Tampa, and only allowed an unearned run in his 5 2/3 innings of work. In fact, both Marlins runs were unearned. Matt Joyce and James Loney both connected long distance in the win. The Fish are just God-awful, and have now lost 16 of their last 18 contests. One bright spot - Marcell Ozuna singled in the first inning, extending his hitting streak to 15 games. Thanks again to Jeffrey Loria and his minions for putting a competitive major-league-caliber team on the field. This team, already the laughing stock around major league baseball, could be headed to becoming the worst non-expansion team in the history of the game. The Marlins host the New York Metropolitans this weekend. Jacob Turner is being recalled from AAA New Orleans today and will start for the Marlins, Shaun Marcum will toe the rubber for the Mets. Game time tonight is 7:10 pm. The pitching matchups for Saturday and Sunday:
SATURDAY Collin McHugh vs Jose Fernandez 4:10 pm
SUNDAY Matt Harvey vs Kevin Slowey 1:10 pm
The Marlins will be on the road next week, with three games in Philadelphia against the Phillies, and three games against the Mets in New York. They return home for three games against the Brewes and three against the Cardinals the week of the 10th.
Let’s just learn to live with the inevitable: the Fish continue to cement their position as the worst run-scoring team in MLB, with 147 runs in their 54 games. Their 13-41 record is the worst ever in franchise history after 54 games. I will be posting the “bottom five” rankings in runs scored until the Marlins aren’t on the list. It looks like we’ll be here all season long.
TEAM W-L Runs
Marlins 13-41 147
Dodgers 22-30 180
White Sox 24-27 183
Phillies 26-28 187
Nationals 27-27 190
By the way, the Boston Red Sox lead the majors with 274 runs scored, followed by the Baltimore Orioles (273).
In the major leagues yesterday,
Rangers 9 D-Backs 5
Mitch Moreland and David Murphy connected long distance
Cubs 8 White Sox 3
Travis Wood gave up two runs and five hits in six innings of work and helped his own cause with a grand slam. Luis Valbuena and Nate Schierholz also homered.
Mariners 7 Padres 1
Felix Hernandez gave up one run in eight innings. The Mariners hit five home runs, including Nick Francklin’s first two homers in the majors.
Giants 5 A’s 2
Pablo Sandoval and Brandon Belt drove in two runs apiece.
Orioles 2 Nationals 0
Freddy Garcia threw eight shutout innings, allowing only three hits, while striking out six and didn’t walk a batter.
Indians 7 Reds 1
Scott Kazmir gave up only a run in seven innings. Michael Boiurn drove in two runs.
Mets 3 Yankees 1
Dillon Gee struck out 12 in 7 1/3 innings. Marlon Byrd homered with a man on in the first inning. The Yankees have lost five in a row, and have only scored a Marlins-like ten runs in those five games combined.
Pirates 1 Tigers 0 (11 innings)
Russell Martin’s RBI single ended the game. The Pirates have won four 1-0 decisions in the last 11 games.
Red Sox 9 Phillies 2
Jacoby Ellsbury went 3-4 and set a team record with five stolen bases. Jarod Saltalamacchia drove in three runs, David Ortiz connected long distance.
Braves 11 Blue Jays 3
Ramiro Peña drove in four runs, Evan Gattis had three hits, Freddie Freeman and Reed Johnson homered in the win.
Twins 8 Brewers 6
Brian Dozier, Joe Mauer, Chris Parmalee, and Ryan Doumit all went yard to sweep the four-game series against the Brewers.
Astros 7 Rockies 5
Chris Carter and former Marlin Matt Dominguez homered, JD Martinez went 4-5.
Angels 3 Dodgers 2
Chris Nelson drove in the go-ahead run with an infield single. Howie Kendrick went 2-4 and scored all three runs for the Angels. Ex-Marlin Jason Vargas improved to 5-3, going 5-0 with a 2.30 ERA in the month of May.
Royals 4 Cardinals 2
Trailing 2-1 in the ninth, Jeff Francoeur blasted a home run to tie the game and Eric Hosmer hit a two-run double. Then after a 4 1/2 hour rain delay, they were able to complete the game.
Today’s games:
In the American League,
Red Sox @ Yankees 7:05 pm
Jon Lester vs CC Sabathia
Tigers @ Orioles 7:05 pm
Max Scherzer vs Miguel Gonzalez
Rays @ Indians 7:05 pm
Matt Moore vs Corey Kluber
Royals @ Rangers 8:05 pm
Wade Davis vs Derek Holland
Mariners @ Twins 8:10 pm
Hisashi Iwakuma vs Mike Pelfrey
Astros @ Angels 10:05 pm
Dallas Keuchel vs Tommy Hanson
White Sox @ A’s 10:05 pm
Dylan Axelrod vs Bartolo Colon
Over in the National League,
Diamondbacks @ Cubs 2:20 pm
Wade Miley vs Matt Garza
Reds @ Pirates 7:05 pm
Johnny Cueto vs Wandy Rodriguez
Brewers @ Phillies 7:05 pm
Yovani Gallardo vs Cole Hamels
Mets @ Marlins 7:10 pm
Shaun Marcum vs Justin Turner
Nationals @ Braves 7:30 pm
Stephen Strasburg vs Julio Teheran
Giants @ Cardinals 8:15 pm
Matt Cain vs Shelby Miller
Dodgers @ Rockies 8:40 pm
Clayton Kershaw vs Jon Garland
Blue Jays @ Padres 10:10 pm
Chad Jenkins vs Jason Marquis
The Yankees may be getting some help very soon, as Wallace Matthews from ESPNNewYork.com reports:
David Schoenfield of ESPN tells us that this could be the year the Pittsburgh Pirates finish over .500 since the 1992 season:
A lot of people, myself included, were expecting a little more success this year from the Kansas City Royals. They just added one of the all-time greats to their coaching staff. Can this spell the end of Ned Yost as their manager? Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports explores what could be behind this story:
The Orioles’ Chris Davis is having a Triple Crown type season, as is Miguel Cabrera. Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports is all over this one:
TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Miguel Cabrera is looking to become only the third player to win the Triple Crown twice, something that has never been done in consecutive seasons. Who were the only players to lead their league in HR, RBI, and Batting Average in the same season? Tell you later, alligator.
Here are the up-to-the-minute standings in MLB:
Here are the individual league leaders in MLB:
In college baseball, the NCAA regionals get under way today. The University of Miami Hurricanes made the postseason field for the 41st consecutive year, a college football record in any sport. The Canes are the second seed in the Louisville regional, but they will be there without their head coach, Jim Morris. Morris is still in a Duke University hospital with pneumonia. He is still waiting to be released by the doctors, and that could happen today or tomorrow. The Canes will face Oklahoma State in their first game at 2:00 pm, and it will be televised on ESPN-3 on your computer or smartphone. The other two teams in that regional, Louisville and Bowling Green duke it out starting at 6:00 pm. The two winners will meet tomorrow at 5:00 pm, with the losers playing in an elimination game at 12:00 noon. The other Florida teams participating: The University of Florida Gators are the #3 seed in the Indiana regional, and will take on Austin Peay, beginning at 1:00 pm. The Florida State Seminoles are hosting their regional, and as the #1 seed in Tallahassee, will play Savannah State at 5:00 pm. Florida Atlantic, who won the Sun Belt Championship, drew the short straw and will play in the North Carolina regional, and will face Towson in the opening game in Chapel Hill at 1:00 pm.
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THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Miguel Cabrera is looking to become only the third player to win the Triple Crown twice, something that has never been done in consecutive seasons. Who were the only players to lead their league in HR, RBI, and Batting Average in the same season?
Rogers Hornsby of the St. Louis Cardinals won the Triple Crown in 1922 and 1925, and Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox, who won the Triple Crown in 1942 and 1947. Williams‘ feat was more incredible when you consider that he missed 1943, 1944, and 1945 while serving in World War II, and then, in 1946, finished second in the American League in all three Triple Crown categories. What a ballplayer.
Don’t miss my two “Descarga Deportiva” radio 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.
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Behave yourselves, and always remember that tomorrow will bring us a brand new day. HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!!!
