The Indiana Pacers assured themselves of a sixth game at home, as they came back and beat the Heat last night 99-92 to tie the series at 2-2. With Miami ahead 89-86 with under five minutes left in the contest, Indiana scored eight consecutive points to take the lead for good, 94-89, and ended the game with a 16-6 run. LeBron James led the Heat with 24 points and five assists, but fouled out of the game with 56 seconds left in the contest. Dwyane Wade scored 16 points and dished out six assists, but a traveling call against him before a three-point basket by Shane Battier, which was disallowed, with 26 seconds left in the game and Miami down 96-92 iced the win for the Pacers. Chris Bosh injured his knee in the first half and his ankle in the second half, finishing with only 7 points and 2 rebounds. Miami shot a poor 39% and were 8-23 from behind the three-point arc, and they were outrebounded 49-30. When Ray Allen is your leading rebounder, you know you are in trouble. The teams will rest today as they prepare for game five tomorrow night, here at the AAA. Game time is 8:30 pm, and you can watch it on TNT on your cable or satellite system. I’m sticking by my original pick - Miami in six games.
For the second night in a row, the Marlins' anemic offense managed to score six runs against Tampa Bay. Against the Rays, six is obviously not enough, as Tampa Bay won again 7-6. Desmond Jennings singled home the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to decide the game. The Fish blew a 4-0 lead, and gave up a 6-5 lead in the eighth on a run-scoring single by Yunel Escobar. Thanks again to Jeffrey Loria and his minions for putting a competitive major-league-caliber team on the field. This team is playing awful baseball right now and it is painful to watch. The teams drove across Alligator Alley last night, and will play two games here at Marlins Park tonight and tomorrow. Tom Koehler takes the mound for the Marlins tonight against Roberto Hernandez (the artist formerly known as Fausto Carmona). Tomorrow night, it will be Ricky Nolasco against Matt Moore. Both games start at 7:10 pm.
Let’s just learn to live with the inevitable: the Fish are still the worst run-scoring team in MLB, with 144 runs in their 52 games. Their 13-39 record is the worst ever in franchise history after 51 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 13-39 144
Dodgers 22-28 175
White Sox 24-25 177
Phillies 25-27 181
Nationals 27-25 184
In the major leagues yesterday,
Braves 7 Blue Jays 6 (10 innings)
Brian McCann’s second home run of the game, a solo blast in the top of the tenth inning, was the game winner. Evan Gattis and Jordan Schafer also connected long distance in the win.
Rockies 2 Astros 1
Michael Cuddyer’s run scoring single in the top of the ninth inning decided the ballgame.
Nationals 9 Orioles 3
Adam LaRoche homered twice and finished with four RBI. Roger Bernadina and Tyler Moore also left the yard for the Nats.
Pirates 1 Tigers 0 (11 innings)
Neil Walker broke up a scoreless tie in the top of the 11th inning with a home run.
Reds 8 Indians 2
The Reds banged out 18 hits. Mat Latos was the beneficiary of the offensive attack, as he improved his record to 5-0.
Mets 2 Yankees 1
News bulletin from New York: Mariano Rivera is human, after all. The Mets had three consecutive hits in the ninth inning against Mo during a two-run rally that ended the game. The Yankees have lost three straight games for the first time this season.
Phillies 3 Red Sox 1
Cliff Lee gave up 1 run and 4 hits in eight innings, and Domonic Brown and Michael Young homered.
Twins 6 Brewers 5 (14 innings)
Eduardo Escobar hit a pinch-hit sacrifice fly in the 14th inning to drive in the game winner. Ryan Doumit, Josh Willingham, and Aaron Hicks all homered for the Twins.
Cardinals 4 Royals 1
Tyler Lyons, making his second career start, allowed 1 run and two hits in seven innings while striking out five. Carlos Beltran, Matt Holliday, and Matt Carpenter connected long distance. Edward Mujica retired the Royals 1-2-3 in the ninth to record his 16th save.
Padres 6 Mariners 1
Jedd Gyorko hit a two-run homer and Mark Kotsay drove in a pair of runs.
A’s 6 Giants 3
Derek Norris and Adam Rosales homered, leading the A’s to their fifth consecutive victory.
Dodgers 3 Angels 0
Hyun-Jin Ryu took care of the Angels, firing a two-hit complete game shutout. Luis Cruz hit a two-run homer for the Dodgers.
The game between the Cubs and the White Sox was postponed because of rain.
Today’s games:
White Sox @ Cubs 2:20 pm
John Danks vs Scott Feldman
Reds @ Indians 7:05 pm
Bronson Arroyo vs Justin Masterson
Nationals vs Orioles 7:05 pm
Jordan Zimmerman vs Chris Tillman
Mets @ Yankees 7:05 pm
Jeremy Hefner vs David Phelps
Red Sox @ Phillies 7:05 pm
John Lackey vs Kyle Kendrick
Tigers @ Pirates 7:05 pm
Anibal Sanchez vs AJ Burnett
Blue Jays @ Braves 7:10 pm
Esmil Rogers vs Kris Medlen
Rays @ Marlins 7:10 pm
Roberto Hernandez vs Tom Koehler
D-Backs @ Rangers 8:05 pm
Brandon McCarthy vs Justin Grimm
Brewers @ Twins 8:10 pm
Marco Estrada vs Samuel Deduno
Royals @ Cardinals 8:15 pm
Luis Mendoza vs Lance Lynn
Astros vs Rockies 8:40 pm
Erik Bedard vs Tyler Chatwood
Dodgers @ Angels 10:05 pm
Chris Capuano vs Jered Weaver
Mariners @ Padres 10:10 pm
Joe Saunders vs Eric Stults
A’s @ Giants 10:15 pm
Tommy Milone vs Tim Lincecum
Former GM Jim Bowden, now writing for ESPN, offers his five most improved players in 2013:
Marlins’ MLB reporter Joe Frisaro brings us his notebook:
Fox Sports’ Jon Paul Morosi chronicles the 2013 struggles of of the top pitchers of 2012:
Here are the up-to-the-minute standings in MLB:
Here are the individual league leaders in MLB:
TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: The baseball amateur draft is coming up on June 6th, so I bring you a two-part question today. Who is the last Marlins draft pick to be named to the All-Star team? What team has gone the longest without a draft pick becoming an all star? Tell you later, alligator.
In college baseball, one of my favorite times of the year is here again, as the NCAA regionals get under way. 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. Their first game is this Friday, May 31st, against Oklahoma State. Game time is 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 on Friday. 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 on Friday. 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.
University of Miami head baseball coach Jim Morris remains hospitalized at Duke University Hospital suffering from pneumonia and will return to the team as soon as he possibly can. In the meantime, assistant coach Gino DiMare will handle head coaching responsibilities until Morris returns to the team.
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THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: The baseball amateur draft is coming up on June 6th, so I bring you a two-part question today. Who is the last Marlins draft pick to be named to the All-Star team? What team has gone the longest without a draft pick becoming an all star?
The Marlins selected Giancarlo Stanton in the second round of the 2007 draft. The team that has gone the longest without a draft pick making it to the All Star game? The Cleveland Indians, who selected CC Sabathia back in 1998. The "total ineptitude in the draft" award goes to the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners obviously don’t have a clue. They selected Adam Jones in the 2003 draft, but he made the all-star team with the Orioles. Reliever JJ Putz was the last Mariner draftee (1999) to make the all-star team as a Mariner. The last position player drafted by Seattle to make an all-star team was Alex Rodriguez, who was drafted in 1993.
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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