Sports Jam Session / Descarga Deportiva

We begin today with the NBA playoffs, as the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers opened up their Eastern Conference championship series in Indianapolis yesterday. Not a good start for the Heat, as they fell to the Pacers, 107-96. Miami’s defense fell apart against Indiana, allowing all five Indy starters to score more than 15 points. Miami was again pounded on the boards, and they shot only 6-23 from behind the three-point arc.

Miami started with Shane Battier on the court, and that small lineup just didn’t work yesterday. They were ineffective in defending the pick and roll and their trademark team defense was invisible for most of the game. The Heat are going to need better effort and results from their point guards going forward, as well as better defense against David West and Roy Hibbert. The Pacers also outscored the Heat 29-10 from the free throw line.

TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Is it time to worry about the fact that the Miami Heat lost the first game of the conference finals series against the Pacers yesterday? How many times have the Heat lost the first game of a series in the “Big Three” era? The answer comes later, alligator.

Out west, the San Antonio Spurs host the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight in game one of their Western Conference Final series. Game time tonight is at 9:00 pm, and you can catch the game on TNT on your cable or satellite system.

Here is a preview of that series:

Preview: Thunder vs Spurs

Yesterday's NBA game summaries

NBA Playoff Schedule

Let’s go to MLB:

The Marlins had a shot to close out their long west coast trip with a respectable 5-6 record, but couldn’t close out their series yesterday against the San Francisco Giants, falling 4-1. Jacob Turner gave up three first-inning runs, and the Fish, playing without Giancarlo Stanton, couldn't muster any offense against Ryan Vogelsong. Thus, the road trip ends with a 4-7 mark, not too bad after the team had lost 10 of their first 12 road games this season. The Fish are back in Miami to enjoy a well-deserved day off today, before opening a three-game series against the Phillies at Marlins park on Tuesday. That series will be followed by a visit from the Milwaukee Brewer for a three-game series this coming weekend.

Here are the projected starters for the Phillies series:

Tuesday AJ Burnett vs Anthony DeSciafani 7:10 pm

Wednesday Kyle Kendrick vs Nathan Eovaldi 7:10 pm

Thursday Cole Hamels vs Henderson Alvarez 7:10 pm

Click below for yesterday’s recaps and results in the major leagues:

National League

American League

Here are the standings in MLB:

MLB standings

Today’s complete schedule in the major leagues:

Today's games in MLB

Some things I’m keeping my eye on around the diamonds:

So far this season, Victor Martinez of the Detroit Tigers is on track to accomplish something extraordinary. In 39 games this season, Martinez has 10 home runs and only 9 strikeouts. There have only been 25 instances in the history of major league baseball that a player has hit at least 30 homers and had fewer strikeouts than homers. Six of those seasons belong to Joe Dimaggio. Since the 1950’s, only one player has had such a season . . . Barry Bonds in 2004 (45 home runs, 41 strikeouts.

The White Sox placed rookie first baseman Jose Abreu on the 15-day disabled list with tendinitis in his ankle. Abreu leads the majors in home runs this season with 15.

Not a good week for first basemen. Joey Votto of the Reds has missed the last three games with a knee injury. The Reds are hoping that Votto will not have to go on the DL.

Carlos Beltran of the Yankees is also on the disabled list with a bone spur in his right elbow. Beltran received a cortisone shot last Tuesday, and another one this past Saturday. Beltran will visit Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion.

The Yankees also announced CC Sabathia may be out awhile due to“degenerative changes” in his right knee. That just doesn't sound good.

The Washington Nationals placed starter Gio Gonzalez on the DL because of inflammation in his pitching shoulder. Gio will be totally shut down for the better part of a week, before starting on a rehab program.

I mentioned last week that Major League Baseball is taking a look at the situation with Cuban slugger Alfredo Despaigne. Despaigne was playing in the Mexican League with a falsified Dominican passport. Look for MLB to launch an investigation in Dominican Republic to try and control this continuing epidemic. Sadly, there are more fake passports out there, and more names will be coming out very soon. Of course, to no one’s surprise, the Cuban government blamed the US embargo on the problem. According to those ass-wipes, the embargo, of course, is also responsible for global warming, the Benghazi incident, Somalian pirates, and bad karaoke.

Sports Jam Session / Descarga Deportiva

Monday, May 19, 2014

No comments:

Post a Comment