The Heat again showed the Bulls that they can beat them at their own game, beating them 104-94 on Friday. LeBron James led the way with 25 points, Chris Bosh dominated and outplayed Joakim Noah, with 20 points and 19 rebounds, and Norris Cole, for the second consecutive game, finished with 18 points. Dwyane Wade still looks like he’s not at 100%, and scored only 10 points in the win. The Heat take a 2-1 lead in the series, with game four tonight, again in Chicago. I’m sticking to my original pick of Miami in five. In the other semifinals,
SATURDAY’S RESULTS:
Memphis 87 Oklahoma City 81
Marc Gasol scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half as the Grizzlies took a 2-1 lead against the Thunder. The game was tied 81-81 with 1:58 left after a Derek Fisher 3-pointer, but Memphis hit six consecutive foul shots to ice the win.
Indiana 82 New York 71
Roy Hibbert was the man, scoring 24 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. George Hill hit five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points.
SUNDAY:
Golden State 97 San Antonio 87 (OT)
The Warriors got offense from Harrison Barnes and Jarrett Jack, who combined to score 50 points. Seth Curry scored 22 while still struggling through an ankle injury. The series is now tied 2-2
TONIGHT’S GAMES:
Miami @ Chicago 7:00 pm TNT
Game 4 Heat lead series 2-1
Oklahoma City @ Memphis 9:30 pm TNT
Game 4 Grizzlies lead series 2-1
TUESDAY:
New York @ Indiana 7:00 pm TNT
Game 4 Pacers lead series 2-1
Golden State @ San Antonio 10:30 pm TNT
Game 5 Series is tied 2-2
In NFL and Dolphin news, am I the only person around that thinks the Dolphins should consider signing veteran free agent safety and future hall of famer Charles Woodson? They have plenty of room under the salary cap. Unless there are any issues I don’t know about, I would love to see his veteran presence both on the field and in the clubhouse this coming season with the Dolphins.
ESPN’s John Clayton brings us his first impressions of this year’s NFL rookie class:
Tom Carpenter of ESPN talks about the expected improvement of QB Ryan Tannehill:
Ben Volin, the beat writer covering the Fins for the Palm Beach Post, is moving on up to the Boston Globe to cover the New England Patriots. Their gain is, unfortunately, our loss. He will be missed. Here is Ben’s goodbye:
Let’s go to the diamonds. The Marlins and Dodgers squared off in a three-game series in Los Angeles this weekend, in a meeting of the worst two offensive teams in the National League. The Fish managed to win Friday night’s game, 5-4, as Jose Fernandez gave up a three-run homer to Adrian Gonzalez in the first inning but settled down after that. Saturday and Sunday were not good to the Marlins, who lost 7-1 and 5-3. Adeiny Hechavarria drove in a couple of runs with a double in the ninth inning, Justin Ruggiano hit his seventh home run of the season in the loss. Not a good road trip for the Fish, as they finished 3-7. The Marlins will enjoy a day of rest as they try to get rid of the normal jet lag and open a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds tomorrow at Marlins Park. The pitching matchups for the series vs. the Reds:
Tuesday 7:10 pm Homer Bailey vs Ricky Nolasco
Wednesday 7:10 pm Mike Leake vs Alex Sanabia
Thursday 7:10 pm Tony Cingrani vs Jose Fernandez
Speaking of Jose Fernandez, the Sun Sentinel’s Juan C. Rodriguez got some interesting comments from Dodgers’ manager Don Mattingly:
Of course, the Fish are still bringing up the rear in MLB in runs scored. They’re still last in runs scored with 108 in their 38 games, an average of 2.8 runs per contest. They are on a pace to finish the season with 47 wins and 115 losses. I will be posting the “bottom five” rankings in runs scored until the Marlins aren’t on the list. We could be here a while.
TEAM W-L Runs
Marlins 11-27 108
White Sox 15-20 120
Dodgers 15-21 127
Nationals 20-17 131
Mariners 18-20 135
The Marlins could learn many lessons from other teams. Today’s example comes from Chicago where the Cubs came to terms with first baseman Anthony Rizzo on a 7-year, $41 million contract, with two club options that could take the contract to 9 years and $73 million. How about it, Mr. Loria? You and your minions should show some commitment and work out a deal with the Man-Child, Giancarlo Stanton. Using those numbers, the deal would be a bargain, even if you don't include a no-trade clause.
In the major leagues yesterday, first in the National League,
Pirates 3 Mets 2
Pedro Alvarez drove in the go-ahead run. Jason Grilli pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to notch his NL-leading 15th save.
Reds 5 Brewers 1
Bronson Arroyo threw 6 2/3 shutout innings, and Donald Lutz hit a three-run homer, becoming the first German player to homer in a major league game.
Cubs 2 Nationals 1
Alfonso Soriano scored the winning run on a throwing error by catcher Kurt Suzuki in the ninth inning
Rockies 8 Cardinals 2
Jorge de la Rosa took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, striking out seven. Troy Tulowitzki homered with two runners on, Charlie Blackmon connected with one man on.
Giants 5 Braves 1
Tim Lincecum threw seven shutout innings. Pablo Sandoval, Brandon Belt, and Marco Scutaro all connected long distance.
Phillies 4 D-Backs 2 (10 innings)
Ryan Howard drove in the go-ahead run with a single.
Over in the American League:
Indians 4 Tigers 3 (10 innings)
Mark Reynolds delivered a pinch-hit, two-out RBI single in the top of the tenth inning.
Blue Jays 12 Red Sox 4
Jose Bautista hit two home runs, Emilio Bonifacio, Edwin Encarnacion, and Brett Lawrie also connected long distance.
Rangers 12 Astros 7
Adrian Beltre had four hits, including a three-run homer.
Yankees 4 Royals 2
Robinson Cano and Vernon Wells homered and drove in a pair of runs each in support of Hiroki Kuroda, who improved to 5-2. Mariano is still
Orioles 6 Twins 0
Chris Davis hit a two-run homer Wei-Yin Chen tossed five innings before leaving with an oblique injury. Adam Jones and Steve Pearce also went yard for the O’s.
Mariners 6 A’s 1
Kendrys Morales connected long distance with two runners on base, Jason Bay also left the building.
Rays 4 Padres 2
Yunel Escobar doubled in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning
White Sox 3 Angels 0
Chris Sale threw a one-hitter, striking out seven. Alexei Ramirez had three hits and drove in two runs in the win.
Today’s games, first in the National League:
Brewers @ Pirates 7:05 pm
Marco Estrada vs AJ Burnett
Mets @ Cardinals 7:05 pm
Jeremy Heffner vs Lance Lynn
Rockies @ Cubs 8:05 pm
Juan Nicasio vs Travis Wood
Braves @ D-Backs 9:40 pm
Mike Minor vs Wade Miley
Nationals @ Dodgers 10:10 pm
Jordan Zimmerman vs Josh Beckett
Over in the American League:
Yankees @ Indians 12:05 pm Game 1
David Phelps vs Justin Masterson
Yankees @ Indians TBD Game 2
Vidal Nuño vs Trevor Bauer
Astros @ Tigers 7:08 pm
Bud Norris vs Anibal Sanchez
White Sox @ Twins 8:10 pm
Hector Santiago vs Pedro Hernandez
Royals @ Angels 10:05 pm
Luis Mendoza vs Joe Blanton
Rangers @ A’s 10:05 pm
Justin Grimm vs AJ Griffin
The St. Louis Cardinals are enjoying an incredible run from their starting rotation. Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is more than impressed:
This past weekend, Shelby Miller and Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals retired 40 straight Rockies hitters. Miller retired the last 27 hitters he faced after a leadoff single on Friday, and Wainwright retired the first 13 hitters before issuing a walk in his 7 1/3 hitless innings on Saturday. The 40 straight hitters retired by a team against another team are a MLB record, tying the mark set in 1996 by the Texas Rangers against the Detroit Tigers. Yesterday, the Rockies’ Jorge de la Rosa took a no-hitter into the seventh against the Cards.
TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Who was the last Cardinals pitcher to throw a no-hitter? I promise - even diehard St. Louis fans may have trouble with this one. Tell you later, alligator.
Peter Gammons was on NBC’s The Dan Patrick Show and offered a disturbing perspective on the umpiring fiasco involving Angel Hernandez and his crew blowing a clear replay call:
My take: I have always considered umpires nothing more than a necessary evil in the game of baseball, albeit a necessary part of the game. My biggest beef is that some of these umpires consider themselves a part of the game, and Angel Hernandez has always been one of the biggest culprits of acting like he’s the reason people go to the stadium. Perception is the mother of reality, and if Gammons’ accusations are true, this could get really ugly.
Speaking of disturbing, I’ve about had it up to here with Joba Chamberlain. Here’s the full story of what happened over the weekend from Wallace Matthews of ESPN New York:
Joba does not deserve the honor of wearing Yankee pinstripes. He should be traded, released, sent to the minors, or, at least, not signed after this season.
Here are the up-to-the-minute standings in MLB:
Here are the individual league leaders in MLB:
In college baseball, FIU needed a good series against UALR in Little Rock, Arkansas, this past weekend and they got it, taking two out of three from the Trojans. The Panthers close out their regular season with a three-game series against upstate rival FAU starting on Thursday. Meanwhile, the University of Miami Hurricanes weren’t so lucky in Wake Forest, losing two out of three against the Demon Deacons. The Canes also close out their regular season at home with a three-game set against Georgia Tech over at Alex Rodriguez Field (the “Light”).
Here is the web site for all the latest in high school baseball:
Speaking of websites, check out my new and improved site:
THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Who was the last Cardinals pitcher to throw a no-hitter?
The last Cardinal to toss a no-hitter was some person named Bud Smith in 2001. Smith only lasted two seasons in the big leagues, both with St. Louis, and was best known for being the last Cardinals player to wear jersey #51 when he made his rookie debut, the number associated with former Cardinal great Willie McGee. That upset a lot of St. Louis fans, and he later changed his jersey to #52, and nobody has worn #51 since with the Cardinals.
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.
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