The Heat took a commanding 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Bulls, pummeling them last night 88-65. Miami held Chicago to a franchise postseason- low in points and field goal percentage (25.7). They taught the Thugs from the Windy City that how to play defense without physically assaulting or mugging your opponents. Carlos Boozer was held to 3-14 shooting from the court, and point guard Nate Robinson was 0-12. Must be tough to shoot a basketball with one hand wrapped around your own neck. LeBron James led the way with 27 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds. I’m not saying the series is over, but the fat lady is warming up her vocal chords in her dressing room. Game five is tomorrow night at the AAA. Tipoff is at 7:00 pm. I’m sticking to my original pick of Miami in five, meaning that the series ends tomorrow night. Dwyane Wade needs the rest, and it wouldn't shock me if he sat out most if not all of the game tomorrow. In the other semifinal game last night,
Memphis 103 Oklahoma City 97 (OT)
The Grizzlies erased a 17-point deficit to take a 3-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series. Mike Conley scored 24 points, while Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph scored 23 points each to go with 11 and 12 rebounds respectively. Game five is Wednesday night in Oklahoma City.
TONIGHT’S GAMES:
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
WEDNESDAY:
Chicago @ Miami 7:00 pm TNT
Game 5 Heat lead series 3-1
Memphis @ Oklahoma City 9:30 pm TNT
Game 4 Grizzlies lead series 2-1
In NFL and Dolphin news, Armando Salguero brings us some comments from Dolphins all-pro center Mike Pouncey.
Interesting article from Chio Scoggins of the Minnesota Tribune (via the Herald) on the Vikings’ new stadium. As the Beach Boys sang, “Wouldn’t it be nice.......?”
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
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. Their 22 homers and .223 team batting average also are the worst figures in the major leagues. 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 15-21 123
Dodgers 15-22 129
Mariners 18-20 135
Nationals 21-17 137
In the major leagues yesterday, first in the National League,
Brewers 5 Pirates 1
Norichika Aoki went 3-5 with three RBI and two stolen bases. Jean Segura stole three bases in the game for the Brewers.
Cardinals 6 Mets 3
Matt Holliday blasted a two-run homer as part of a three-run seventh inning that broke a 3-3 tie. Matt Carpenter drove in two runs, Jon Jan and Allen Craig each drove in one run. Lance Lynn improved to 6-1.
Cubs 9 Rockies 1
Travis Wood pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing only two hits. Wood also had two hits, drove in a run and scored another one. Alfonso Soriano connected long distance with a man on.
Braves 10 D-Backs 1
In his first game back at Chase Field, Justin Upton went 4-5, including a two-run monster home run, his 13th of the season. Another former D-Back, Chris Johnson, also homered and drove in three runs. Brian McCann also went yard, and also finished with three RBI.
Nationals 6 Dodgers 2
Ryan Zimmerman drove in three runs, Adam LaRoche knocked in a pair. Bryce Harper had to leave the game in the fifth inning after colliding face first with the right field scoreboard. He required 11 stitches to repair a laceration in the throat. Jordan Zimmerman improved to 7-1, Josh Beckett took the loss and is now 0-5 this season.
Over in the American League:
Indians 1 Yankees 0 (Game 1)
Justin Masterson was brilliant, tossing his second shutout of the season. David Phelps was the hard-luck loser, giving up a first-inning homer to Jason Kipnis for the game’s only run.
Yankees 7 Indians 0 (Game 2)
Vidal Nuño pitched five scoreless innings to earn his first major league win. Rookie Adam Warren tossed the last four innings to complete the shutout and earn his first save. Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay drove in two runs each.
Tigers 7 Astros 2
Andy Dirks went 3-4 with a grand slam. Victor Martinez also connected long distance with a runner on base. Anibal Sanchez gave up two runs on six hits over seven innings.
Twins 10 White Sox 3
Aaron Hicks hit two home runs and Justin Morneau went 3-5 and drove in four runs.
Royals 11 Angels 4
Billy Butler went 5-5 with five RBI, Salvador Perez and Lorenzo Cain each drove in two runs.
A’s 5 Rangers 1
Yoenis Cespedes and Brandon Moss hit back to back homers and AJ Griffin scattered six hits, struck out eight, and didn’t walk anybody.
Today’s games, first in the National League:
Indians @ Phillies 7:05 pm
Scott Kazmir vs Jonathan Pettibone
Brewers @ Pirates 7:05 pm
Kyle Lohse vs Jeff Locke
Reds @ Marlins 7:10 pm
Homer Bailey vs Ricky Nolasco
Rockies @ Cubs 8:05 pm
Jeff Francis vs Carlos Villanueva
Mets @ Cardinals 8:15 pm
Dillon Gee vs John Gast
Braves @ D-Backs 9:40 pm
Julio Teheran vs Patrick Corbin
Nationals @ Dodgers 10:10 pm
Dan Haren vs Clayton Kershaw
Over in the American League:
Mariners @ Yankees 7:05 pm
Felix Hernandez vs CC Sabathia
Padres @ Orioles 7:05 pm
Andrew Cashner vs Chris Tillman
Giants @ Blue Jays 7:07 pm
Barry Zito vs RA Dickey
Astros @ Tigers 7:08 pm
Lucas Harrell vs Doug Fister
Red Sox @ Rays 7:10 pm
John Lackey vs Matt Moore
White Sox @ Twins 8:10 pm
Jake Peavy vs Kevin Correia
Royals @ Angels 10:05 pm
Jeremy Guthrie vs Jason Vargas
Rangers @ A’s 10:05 pm
Derek Holland vs Bartolo Colon
The Marlins’ injured players are “counting the days”, according to the Herald. Not sure if they mean when they get back to playing or when Jeffrey Loria finally decides to sell the team. Here’s the story from Clark Spencer:
Armando Salguero is right on with this piece on Jeffrey Loria’s negative impact:
TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Who was the last pitcher to reach the 300-win club? What team did he do it with?throw a no-hitter? Tell you later, alligator.
Jaff Passan of Yahoo! Sports talks about who has the best shot at joining the 300-win club:
Baseball’s amateur draft is less than a month away, here is Keith Law’s list of Top 100 prospects. WHERE ARE THE SOUTH FLORIDA KIDS???
Here are the up-to-the-minute standings in MLB:
Here are the individual league leaders in MLB:
In college baseball, FIU close out their regular season with a three-game series against rival FAU starting on Thursday. Meanwhile, the University of Miami Hurricanes 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 pitcher to reach the 300-win club? What team did he do it with?throw a no-hitter?
The Big Unit, Randy Johnson, joined the exclusive 300-win club in June of 2009, while pitching for the San Francisco Giants. Before him was Tom Glavine, who reached the milestone in August of 2007 while pitching for the New York Metropolitans. There are only a total of 24 members in that fraternity.
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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