Friday, June 28, 2013


Let’s begin today with NBA basketball and the Heat.  The NBA draft was held last night and there were a LOT of surprises, including a blockbuster trade that breaks up the Boston Celtics and makes the Brooklyn Nets a legitimate challenger to the Heat.  Fox Sports does its best to explain it all:


The Miami Heat made a trade with the Atlanta Hawks, sending next year’s second-round pick to Atlanta for the rights to swingman James Ennis, who played for Long Beach State.  The Herald has the details:


Former UM guard Shane Larkin was drafted by the Hawks and traded to the Dallas Mavericks, while in an ironic twist of fate, Tim Hardaway Jr. was drafted by the New York Knicks.  

The Marlins enjoyed yesterday’s day off and return to action tonight as they host the San Diego Padres in the first game of a four-game series.  Ricky Nolasco (MAYBE) will toe the rubber tonight for the Fish, while Edinson Volquez will start for the Padres.  Game time tonight is 7:10 at Marlins Park.  Here are the expected starters for the rest of the series vs. the Padres:

SATURDAY Eric Stults vs Jacob Turner 7:10 pm
SUNDAY Andrew Cashner vs Nathan Eovaldi 1:10 pm
MONDAY Jason Marquis vs Jose Fernandez 7:10 pm  

The Fish are still the worst run-scoring team in MLB, with 244 runs in their 77 games.  Here are the rest of the bottom-dwellers:

TEAM               W-L       Runs
Marlins 27-50 244
Nationals 39-39 275
White Sox 32-43 277
Dodgers 36-42 283
Mariners 34-45 283

Don’t look now, but the Yankees have moved in to the bottom ten, sitting at ninth worst in MLB with 302 runs scored.  Who would have thunk it?

In the major leagues yesterday, in the American League,

Rangers 2 Yankees 0
Derek Holland was brilliant, tossing a two-hit shutout and Jurickson Profar connected long distance.

Angels 3 Tigers 1 (10 innings)
Albert Pujols drove in the deciding run with a double.

Red Sox 7 Blue Jays 4
The Red Sox scored all their runs in the second inning.  Dustin Pedroia homered with a man on.  

Twins 3 Royals 1
Justin Morneau doubled twice and drove in a run and Samuel Deduno threw seven innings, allowing only  1 run and five hits.

Orioles 7 Indians 3
Ryan Flaherty went 2-3 with two RBI.

Over in the National League,

D-Backs 3 Nationals 2 (11 innings)
Didi Gregorius’ bunt single drove in pinch-runner AJ Pollock with the go-ahead run in the 11th.

Cubs 7 Brewers 2
Dioner Navarro homered with two men on base and Matt Garza struck out 10 in his seven innings of work, allowing only one run.  

Mets 3 Rockies 2
Marlon Byrd connected long distance with a runner on in the eighth inning to overtake the Rockies.

Dodgers 6 Phillies 4
Yasiel Puig hit the go-ahead two-run single in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Dodgers won their sixth game in a row.

Today’s games, first, in the American League,

Indians @ White Sox 5:10 pm & 8:40 pm
Trevor Bauer vs Hector Santiago (Game 1)
Carlos Carrasco vs Jose Quintana (Game 2)

Yankees @ Orioles 7:05 pm
David Phelps vs Kevin Gausman

Tigers @ Rays 7:10 pm
Max Scherzer vs Alex Colome

Blue Jays @ Red Sox 7:10 pm
Josh Johnson vs Allen Webster

Reds @ Rangers 8:05 pm
Johnny Cueto vs Martin Perez

Angels @ Astros 8:10 pm
Jerome Williams vs Bud Norris

Royals @ Twins 8:10 pm
James Shields vs PJ Walters

Cardinals @ A’s 10:05 pm
Shelby Miller vs Bartolo Colon

Cubs @ Mariners 10:10 pm
Travis Wood vs Hisashi Iwakuma

Over in the National League,

Brewers @ Pirates 7:05 pm
Johnny Hellweg vs Gerrit Cole

Nationals @ Mets 7:10 pm
Ross Detwiler vs Matt Harvey

Padres @ Marlins 7:10 pm
Edinson Volquez vs Ricky Nolasco

Diamondbacks @ Braves 7:30 pm
Randall Delgado vs Julio Teheran

Giants @ Rockies 8:40 pm
Barry Zito vs Jhoulys Chacin

Phillies @ Dodgers 10:10 pm
John Lannan vs Chris Capuano

Nothing  new to report on the Ricky Nolasco trade front, but more and more it seems that the Dodgers are still the front runners to obtain the services of the righthander.  Nolasco is still scheduled to take the mound tonight against the San Diego Padres, who were also interested in possibly trading for Nolasco.  The San Francisco Giants have also inquired about Nolasco.  Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com has the west coast angle:


In Yankee news, after tweeting that doctors had cleared him to play and getting in trouble with the Yankees, Alex Rodriguez is apparently changing his tune (surprise, surprise) and now says that he really doesn’t know when he’ll be able to come back:


After “sources” close to A-Rod said yesterday that Alex believes he is being held back so the Yankees can collect insurance money, here is a more believable conspiracy theory . . . ARod wants to play in rehab games, declare he is unable to perform, retire from baseball before any suspensions from the PED issue come through, and collect the remainder of his salary - $114 million over the next five years.  Here are the details from the New York Daily News:


Meanwhile, Derek Jeter is back in Tampa continuing his work to come back from his broken left ankle and is now running outdoors for the first time in two months.  


In Atlanta, the Braves lost versatile backup Ramiro Peña for the season.  Peña will undergo season-ending surgery today for a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder.  Here’s the story from David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:


Congratulations to the Milwaukee Brewers as the Racing Sausages celebrate a milestone anniversary:


Here are the up-to-the-minute standings in MLB:


Here are the individual league leaders in MLB:


HERE IS TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  The Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight is not until September 4th, but it has already broken the all-time live gate record for a boxing event.  The fight will be held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and all the tickets were sold out within 24 hours after going on sale.  What fight event was the prior record holder? Tell you later, alligator.   

The Aaron Hernandez investigation is expanding.  From Yahoo! Sports, another man was arrested in Connecticut in connection with the murder investigation:


Also from Yahoo! Sports, Hernandez is being investigated for his possible role in a 2012 double murder:

  
Fox Sports is reporting that Massachusetts state police is searching for yet another suspect, one described as “armed and dangerous”:


Don’t assume that Tim Tebow is going to step in and play tight end in New England.  Yahoo Sports has more:


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I’m selling a little over three acres in the beautiful North Carolina mountains, overlooking the New River, a quick 35-minute drive from Boone and Blowing Rock.  Click here to see some photos and feel free to contact me if you have any questions: 


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THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: The Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight is not until September 4th, but it has already broken the all-time live gate record for a boxing event.  The fight will be held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and all the tickets were sold out within 24 hours after going on sale.  What fight event was the prior record holder?

The previous record holder was the fight between Mayweather and Oscar de la Hoya in 2007 held the previous record with a gate of $18,467,000 in ticket sales.  The Canelo-Mayweather fight will approach $19,000,000 in ticket sales when all is said and done.   

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. 

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!

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Thursday, June 27, 2013


The Marlins continued their winning ways yesterday, as they completed a two-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins, beating them yesterday 5-3, after being down 3-0.  Jeff Mathis and Placido Polanco both hit their first home runs of the season, both of them with a runner on base.  Kevin Slowey replaced starter Tom Koehler and pitched three scoreless innings to earn the win.  The Marlins have now given up three runs or fewer in 10 straight games and are 13-9 during the month of June.  The team will enjoy a day off today before they welcome the San Diego Padres to Marlins Park for a four-game series Friday through Monday.  Here are the expected starters for the series vs. the Padres:

FRIDAY Edinson Volquez vs Ricky Nolasco 7:10 pm
SATURDAY Eric Stults vs Jacob Turner 7:10 pm
SUNDAY Andrew Cashner vs Nathan Eovaldi 1:10 pm
MONDAY Jason Marquis vs Jose Fernandez 7:10 pm  

The Fish are still the worst run-scoring team in MLB, with 244 runs in their 77 games.  Here are the rest of the bottom-dwellers:

TEAM                W-L       Runs
Marlins 27-50 244
Nationals 39-38 273
Dodgers 35-42 277
White Sox 32-43 277
Mariners 34-45 283

In the major leagues yesterday, in the American League,

Blue Jays 3 Rays 0
Adam Lind and Edwin Encarnacion connected long distance and RA Dickey fired a two-hit shutout.  He absolutely loves pitching in the state of Florida.  In 13 games against the Rays and Marlins in the Sunshine State, his record is 11-0.

Indians 4 Orioles 3
Drew Stubbs drove in the deciding run in the top of the ninth inning.  The Orioles have now dropped five out of six.

Rangers 8 Yankees 5
Nelson Cruz belted a two-run homer in the top of the seventh inning and Adrian Beltre had three hits and drove in a pair.

Angels 7 Tigers 4
Mike Trout and Erick Aybar both blasted two-run homers.

A’s 5 Reds 0
AJ Griffin tossed a two-hit shutout and Josh Donaldson hit a three-run homer.

Pirates 4 Mariners 2
Jordy Mercer’s RBI single in the top of the ninth inning lifted the Pirates to their sixth straight win and a tie with the St. Louis Cardinals atop the NL Central.

Astros 4 Cardinals 3
Erik Bedard pitched six innings to earn the win.

Red Sox 5 Rockies 3
Daniel Nava drove in two runs and Shane Victorino had three hits and scored two runs.

Mets 3 White Sox 0
Shaun Marcum threw eight shutout innings to finally get his first win of 2013, after 9 straight losses.

Royals 4 Braves 3 (10 innings)
Alex Gordon hit a leadoff homer and the walk-off RBI single. 

Over in the National League,

Nationals 3 D-Backs 2
Jordan Zimmerman improved his record to 11-3 and Tyler Moore connected long distance.

Cubs 5 Brewers 4
Anthony Rizzo drove in a pair of runs in support of Scott Feldman, who gave up three runs over six innings.

Dodgers 4 Giants 2
Clayton Kershaw pitched into the ninth inning, giving up just two runs and four hits.    

Phillies 7 Padres 5 (13 innings)
Two errors by Logan Forsythe in the top of the 13th inning led to the Phillies win.     

Today’s games, first, in the American League,

Rangers @ Yankees 1:05 pm
Derek Holland vs Phil Hughes

Angels @ Tigers 1:08 pm
Jered Weaver vs Doug Fister

Indians @ Orioles 7:05 pm
Corey Kluber vs Miguel Gonzalez

Blue Jays @ Red Sox      7:10 pm
Chien-Ming Wan vs Jon Lester

Royals @ Twins   8:10 pm
Jeremy Guthrie vs Samuel Deduno

Over in the National League,

Cubs @ Brewers 2:10 pm
Matt Garza vs Wily Peralta 

D-backs @ Nationals     4:05 pm
Patrick Corbin vs Stephen Strasburg

Mets @ Rockies           6:10 pm
Jeremy Hefner vs Tyler Chatwood

Phillies @ Dodgers      10:10 pm
Jonathan Pettibone vs Zack Greinke

The Marlins are talking to various teams about trades, and ESPN is reporting that the Fish and the Dodgers are talking about Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco:


Regardless of the destination, Nolasco’s trade is imminent.

In Yankee news, Mark Teixeira will require season-ending wrist surgery for an injury he sustained during the WBC:


Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman and Alex Rodriguez have spoken and tried to clear the air, but not before “sources” close to A-Rod said that Alex believes he is being held back so the Yankees can collect insurance money:


Yeah, Alex.  The Yankees have ALWAYS run their ballclub so they could save a dollar here, and a dollar there.

With the MLB All Star game coming up, Keith Law of ESPN talks about the rosters for the Futures game.  Always fun to watch:


Here are the up-to-the-minute standings in MLB:


Here are the individual league leaders in MLB:


Back to basketball and the Heat.  A lot of comments from the media regarding what the future holds for the Heat.  Here are the only comments that matter, from team president Pat Riley:


The NBA draft is tonight, and the Heat will not have any selections.  They would have had the 30th pick in the first round and that one ended up with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the trade for some guy named LeBron.  Good trade. 

From the Sun-Sentinel, here is the complete draft order, in case you need to know:


A couple of players with famous fathers and Miami connections will probably end up being selected in the first round.  Those names include Shane Larkin, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Glen Rice Jr.

Did you all know that the Harlem Globetrotters also hold a draft?  In case you missed it, check out the names they just selected:


HERE IS TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  In today’s NBA draft, University of Miami point guard Shane Larkin, the son of baseball hall of famer Barry Larkin, is expected to be selected in the middle of the first round.  Only two players from the U have been selected in the first round of the draft.  Who are those two players? Tell you later, alligator.   

The Aaron Hernandez saga has pretty much reached its destination.  Hernandez was arrested and charged with first-degree murder yesterday at his home.  The victim, Odin Lloyd, was a friend of Hernandez who was dating the sister of Hernandez’ fiancee.  Llloyd was shot multiple times in the back and chest.  Here is the story from ESPN:  


ESPN’s legal analyst Lester Munson has some details of the case:


In another story straight from the files of Police Squad!, Cleveland Browns rookie linebacker Ausar Walcott was arrested and charged with attempted murder outside of a club in New Jersey.  Here is that story:


That makes a total of 29 NFL players that have been arrested since after this year’s Super Bowl in February.  Whatever the league and the teams are doing, is obviously not enough to put an end to the “Gangsta” behavior of the players.   

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I’m selling a little over three acres in the beautiful North Carolina mountains, overlooking the New River, a quick 35-minute drive from Boone and Blowing Rock.  Click here to see some photos and feel free to contact me if you have any questions: 


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THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: In today’s NBA draft, University of Miami point guard Shane Larkin, the son of baseball hall of famer Barry Larkin, is expected to be selected in the middle of the first round.  Only two players from the U have been selected in the first round of the draft.  Who are those two players?

Hall of Famer Rick Barry was the #2 selection in the 1965 draft, and Tim James was selected #25 in 1999.  

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. 

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. 
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Wednesday, June 26, 2013


Marcell Ozuna drove in the tying and go-ahead runs in the sixth inning with a bases-loaded single, and drove in an insurance run in the eighth with a double off the center field wall as the Marlins came from behind to beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-2.  Jose Fernandez lasted only five innings, allowing only four hits and one earned run, but had issues with his control, throwing only 59 out of his 94 pitches for strikes.  Derek Dietrich hit his seventh homer of the season for the Fish, who are now 12-9 this month.  An early 12:40 start time today against the Twins.  Tom Koehler takes the mound for Miami, Scott Diamond toes the rubber for Minnesota.  The Fish will then enjoy a day off tomorrow, before hosting the San Diego Padres in a four-game series from Monday through Monday.  

The Fish are still the worst run-scoring team in MLB, with 239 runs in their 76 games.  Here are the rest of the bottom-dwellers:

TEAM                 W-L       Runs
Marlins 26-50 239
Nationals 38-38 270
Dodgers 34-42 273
White Sox 32-42 277
Mariners 34-44 281

In the major leagues yesterday, in the American League,

Orioles 6 Indians 3
Chris Davis hit his major-league leading 28th homer and Alexi Casilla connected long distance with two men on base.

Yankees 4 Rangers 3
Ichiro Suzuki ended the game with a solo homer in the bottom of the ninth inning.  Brett Gardner, Jayson Nix, and Travis Haffner also went yard for the Yankees.  Mariano Rivera tossed a scoreless ninth inning to earn the win.

Angels 14 Tigers 8
JB Shuck went 3-5 and drove in four runs.  The Angels have beaten the Tigers in seven straight meetings, outscoring Detroit 48-17 in those games.

Rays 5 Blue Jays 1
Matt Moore tossed six innings of one-run ball and struck out 11.

Red Sox 11 Rockies 4
Dustin Pedroia went 3-5 with four RBI, Mike Napoli added 2 RBI.

White Sox 5 Mets 4
Alexei Ramirez made up for an embarrassing error and delivered the game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Cardinals 13 Astros 5
Allan Craig homered and drove in three runs, Carlos Beltran and David Freese added two-run homers in the win.

Braves 4 Royals 3
Jason Heyward drove in three runs, including the go-ahead home run in the top of the seventh inning.

A’s 7 Reds 3
Josh Donaldson belted a two-run homer and five other A’s players drove in runs.

Pirates 9 Mariners 4
Starling Marte connected long distance twice, Russell Martin, Brandon Inge and our old friend Gaby Sanchez also went deep.

Over in the National League,

Nationals 7 D-Backs 5
Ada Laroche belted a three-run homer, Gio Gonzalez got the win, allowing two runs in 6 1/3 innings.

Brewers 9 Cubs 3
Rickie Weeks went 3-4, with a pair of home runs and drove in four runs.  Juan Francisco also connected long distance in the win.

Dodgers 6 Giants 5
Hanley Ramirez and Mark Ellis both connected two-run homers as the Dodgers won a season-high fourth straight game.  

Phillies 6 Padres 2
Domonic Brown hit a go-ahead three-run homer and finished with four RBI.    

Today’s games, first, in the American League,

Blue Jays @ Rays 12:10 pm
RA Dickey vs Roberto Hernandez

Reds @ Athletics   3:35 pm
Bronson Arroyo vs Tommy Milone

Pirates @ Mariners   3:40 pm
Jeanmar Gomez vs Felix Hernandez

Rockies @ Red Sox   4:05 pm
Roy Oswalt vs John Lackey

Rangers @ Yankees   7:05 pm
Justin Grimm vs Andy Pettitte

Indians @ Orioles   7:05 pm
Scot Kazmir vs Jason Hammel

Angels @ Tigers   7:08 pm
Tommy Hanson

Braves @ Royals   8:10 pm
Mike Minor vs Luis Mendoza

Mets @ White Sox   8:10 pm
Shaun Marcum vs John Danks

Cardinals @ Astros   8:10 pm
Lance Lynn vs Erik Bedard

Over in the National League,

Twins @ Marlins 12:40 pm
Scott Diamond vs Tom Koehler

D-backs @ Nationals   7:05 pm
Wade Miley vs Jordan Zimmerman

Cubs @ Brewers   8:10 pm
Scott Feldman vs Yovani Gallardo

Phillies @ Padres   10:10 pm
Cole Hamels vs Robbie Erlin

Giants @ Dodgers   10:10 pm
Tim Lincecum vs Clayton Kershaw

HERE IS TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  Miguel Cabrera joined an elite club, becoming only the sixth player since 1920 with at least 1200 RBI and 300 HR in his first 11 seasons in the big leagues.  The other five? Tell you later, alligator.   

Former GM Manny Acta, now with ESPN, talks about the dangers of rushing prospects up to the major leagues too soon:


Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman is fed up with Alex Rodriguez:


The Atlanta Braves hold the largest lead in any division in baseball, (6 games), but are struggling offensively.  Devid Schoenfield of ESPN looks at the Braves in detail:


The Chicago Cubs designated reliever Carlos Marmol for assignment, probably ending Marmol’s stay in Chicago:



Here are the up-to-the-minute standings in MLB:


Here are the individual league leaders in MLB:


Last night at the College World Series in Omaha, UCLA defeated Mississippi State 8-0 to win its first national championship in baseball.  The Bruins have an NCAA-record 109 national championships in team sports.    

Back to basketball the the Heat.  The Herald was at LeBron James‘ news conference yesterday:


Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel tells us all we need to know about Ray Allen and his contract situation:


The NBA draft is tomorrow, and the Heat will not have any selections.  From the Sun-Sentinel, here is the complete draft order, in case you need to know:


Did you all know that the Harlem Globetrotters also hold a draft?  You have to see who they just selected:


Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald as been listening through peepholes and offers up some of his usual nonsense, along with some good background stuff:


From the NFL and Police Squad! files, here is today’s update on the Aaron Hernandez story:  


Les Carpenter of Yahoo! Sports analyzes the Hernandez situation and the NFL’s inability to get their players off the police blotters:


The Dolphins are close to signing free-agent fullback Vonta Leach, at least, according to his agent:


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Please check this out: I’m selling a little over three acres in the beautiful North Carolina mountains, overlooking the New River, a quick 35-minute drive from Boone and Blowing Rock.  Click here to see some photos and feel free to contact me if you have any questions: 


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THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Miguel Cabrera joined an elite club, becoming only the sixth player since 1920 with at least 1200 RBI and 300 HR in his first 11 seasons in the big leagues.  The other five? 

Hank Aaron, Jeff Bagwell, Joe DiMaggio, Alberto Pujols, and Ted Williams.

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. 

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. 
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