LeBron James missed 10 of his first 13 shots last night in game two of the NBA finals.  The good thing for the Miami Heat was that LBJ hit five of his last seven from the field and finished with with eight rebounds, seven assists, three blocks, three steals, to go with his 17 points.  Mario Chalmers finished with 19 points, Ray Allen finished with 13 and the Heat came away with a 103-84 blowout win against San Antonio to tie the series at 1-1.  San Antonio had taken a 62-61 lead in the third quarter, but Miami finished the period on a 14-3 run, and began the fourth with a 9-0 run and shut the door on the Spurs.  

Many good things happened for Miami to win this second game, as they took their record to 5-0 after a loss this postseason.  The team shot 10-19 from behind the three-point arc, and on the other side of the court, they adjusted and played a little more aggressive as a group in defending Tony Parker.  In Parker’s 33 minutes of action, the Heat outscored the Spurs by 27 points.  The Heat were very effective in using their own version of the pick and roll, as they made 6 of 7 shots for 16 points when LeBron screened for Mario Chalmers.  They were 0-4 in game one.  They also handled the ball quite well, committing only six turnovers, while forcing the Spurs into 17 turnovers.  Remember they only had four turnovers in game one.  

Good win for the Heat, but they have a lot of work to do as they now head to San Antonio for games 3, 4, and 5.  They have to take back the home court advantage on Tuesday night.  Here are the game times and dates for the rest of the series, all games will be broadcast by ABC, Channel 10 in South Florida:

Game 3 Tue, June 11 9:00 pm @ San Antonio

Game 4 Thu, June 13 9:00 pm @ San Antonio

Game 5 * Sun, June 16 8:00 pm @ San Antonio

Game 6 * Tue, June 18 9:00 pm @ Miami

Game 7 * Thu, June 20 9:00 pm @ Miami

• -- If Necessary

LeBron James was not at his very best, but as Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes, his teammates had his back.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-heat/fl-hyde-heat-spurs-game-2-0610-20130609,0,7711101.column

Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports talks about the Heat’s supporting cast yesterday.  You also may want to check out LeBron James’ spectacular blocked shot against Tiago Splitter in the article.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/lebron-james--supporting-cast-defiant-in-heat-s-game-2-rout-of-spurs-in-finals-054202509.html

The Marlins and Mets got rained out on Friday, but they played enough baseball against the Mets, going 20 innings on Saturday, and 10 innings on Sunday.  The Fish took both games of the series, winning the 20 inning marathon on Saturday 2-1, and taking yesterday’s ten-inning game 8-4.  Adeiny Hechavarria drove in the winning run in both games.  Always a good weekend when you sweep the series, especially against the Metropolitans.  Miami is 8-3 this season against the Mets, 8-41 against the rest of the teams.  I’m hearing that the Marlins have petitioned MLB to let them play the Mets 36 times this season.  The Milwaukee Brewers come calling for a three-game series that begins today.  The Brewers just took three out of four this weekend against the Phillies.  The expected pitching matchups for the series against the Brew Crew are:

MONDAY Yovani Gallardo vs Ricky Nolasco 7:10 pm

TUESDAY Wily Peralta vs Jacob Turner 7:10 pm

WEDNESDAY Alfredo Figaro vs Kevin Slowey 7:10 pm

The Marlins will enjoy an off-day on Thursday, before taking on the St. Louis Cardinals for a three-game series starting on Friday.

The Fish are still the worst run-scoring team in MLB, with 187 runs in their 62 games.   

TEAM                    W-L       Runs

Marlins 16-44 177

White Sox 27-34 214

Nationals 31-31 216

Dodgers 27-35 217

Pirates 37-26 229

Mariners 23-35 229

TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  The Marlins and the Mets played a 20-inning marathon on Saturday, with the Marlins taking home the 2-1 victory.  Where does this game stand among the longest games in Marlins history? Tell you later, alligator. 

In the major leagues yesterday, in the American League,

Rangers 6 Blue Jays 4

Adrian Beltre hit a go-ahead homer in the seventh inning.  Nelson Cruz and David Murphy connected long distance.

Tigers 4 Indians 1

Jose Alvarez, called up from the minors to replace an ailing Anibal Sanchez, made the most of his major league debut, going six innings, allowing just 1 run and 3 hits, while striking out seven.

Red Sox 10 Angels 5

Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit two homers and drove in five runs, David Ortiz broke an early 1-1 tie with a three-run homer, and Mike Carp also went yard.

Orioles 10 Rays 7

JJ Hardy and Adam Jones both finished with three hits and a pair of RBI.  

White Sox 4 A’s 2

Alex Rios and Tyler Flowers connected long distance.

Royals 2 Astros 0

Alex Gordon singled in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning.  

Yankees 2 Mariners 1

Chris Stewart delivered the key hit, a two-out run scoring single in the top of the ninth inning.  Brett Gardner went 4-5 and drove in the other Yankee run.

Over in the National League,

Brewers 9 Phillies 1

Carlos Gomez hit a two-run homer,  Jean Segura also drove in a pair of runs.

Cubs 4 Pirates 1

Cody Ransom’s three-run homer in the seventh inning was the difference.

Nationals 7 Twins 0 Game 1

Nationals 5 Twins 4 Game 2

In the first game, Ian Desmond had three hits and two RBI and Jordan Zimmerman improved his record to 9-3, allowing only two hits and striking out eight.  Desmond was the hero in the nightcap, as he drove in the game winner with a double in the seventh.

Giants 6 D-Backs 2

Marco Scutaro and Brandon Belt connected long distance in support of Chad Gaudin, who recorded his second straight win since being forced into the Giants rotation due to injuries.

Rockies 8 Padres 7 (10 innings)

Dexter Fowler hit the game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the tenth inning.  Carlos Gonzalez drove in three runs, and Troy Tulowitzki homered with a runner on.

Braves  8 Dodgers 1

Dan Uggla hit two homers, driving in four runs, and Freddie Freeman drove in three runs with a bases-loaded double.

Cardinals 11 Reds 4 (10 innings)

Matt Holliday hit a grand slam in the 10th inning, when the Cards scored 7 runs.  

Today’s games:

In the American League,

Angels @ Orioles 7:05 pm

Jered Weaver vs Freddy Garcia

Red Sox @ Rays 7:10 pm

John Lackey vs Alex Cobb

Indians @ Rangers 8:05 pm

Scott Kazmir vs Josh Lindblom

Tigers @ Royals 8:10 pm

Doug Fister vs Jeremy Guthrie

Blue Jays @ White Sox 8:10 pm

RA Dickey vs Dylan Axelrod

Astros @ Mariners 10:10 pm

Dallas Keuchel vs Hisashi Iwakuma

Over in the National League,

Brewers @ Marlins 7:10 pm

Yovani Gallardo vs Ricky Nolasco

Reds @ Cubs 8:05 pm

Homer Bailey vs Scott Feldman

Braves @ Padres 10:10 pm

Julio Teheran vs Jason Marquis

D-Backs @ Dodgers 10:10 pm

Wade Miley vs Clayton Kershaw

Logan Morrison is back with the Marlins, and to make room on the roster, the Fish placed Chris Coghlan on the DL.  Here’s more from MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130609&content_id=50103272&vkey=news_mia&c_id=mia

Could Giancarlo Stanton be rejoining the Fish soon? My question is: Where are they going to put him? Here’s the latest from MLB.com:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130609&content_id=50112254&notebook_id=50112460&vkey=notebook_mia&c_id=mia

Jayson Stark of ESPN.com has a top-five list of contract situations that may shake up  the baseball world, as well as some very interesting rumors:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/page/rumblings130607/five-players-contract-situations-fascinating

I’ve been telling you all year about Evan Gattis, “El Oso Blanco”.   The national media is catching on.  Tim Brown from Yahoo! Sports chimes in on the legend of El Oso Blanco:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/evan-gattis--the-man-behind-the-legend-012043114.html

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

http://espn.go.com/mlb/standings

Here are the individual league leaders in MLB:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/statistics

In college baseball, here is the NCAA tournament bracket this year.  Five teams are in already, as North Carolina State, UCLA, LSU, Indiana, and Louisville have all punched their tickets to Omaha.  Three Super Regionals are still pending - North Carolina vs South Carolina; Virginia vs Mississippi State; and Oregon State vs Kansas State.  The College World Series begins this Saturday in Omaha:

http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/baseball/d1

Staying in college, it is going to get ugly at the “U” as Sports Illustrated will be revealing that convicted felon and all-around little weasel Nevin Shapiro used inside information to bet on UM games.  Here’t the story from the Miami Herald:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/06/09/3441216/sources-si-to-publish-tell-all.html

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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: 

http://www.descargadeportiva.com/_north_carolina_land

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: The Marlins and the Mets played a 20-inning marathon on Saturday, with the Marlins taking home the 2-1 victory.  Where does this game stand among the longest games in Marlins history?    

Saturday’s game matched the longest game in the history of the Fish - a 20 inning game in 2003 against the St. Louis Cardinals.  The Cards won that game, 7-6.  The Mets’ longest game in their history?  A 25-inning battle, also against the Cardinals, in 1974.  BTW, the Cards also won that one, 4-3.

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. 

Tony Parker’s improbable circus shot beat the Miami Heat last night, 92-88, and the San Antonio Spurs take a 1-0 lead in their Finals series against the defending champion Miami Heat.  With the Spurs holding a two-point lead in the closing seconds of the game, Parker dribbled the ball off his leg, and fell to his knees.  Well defended by the much bigger LeBron James, he somehow managed to get up and connect on an impossible bank shot off his knees as the shot clock expired.  Parker scored 10 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, dominated by the Spurs, who outscored the Heat in that final frame, 23-16.  The ageless one, Tim Duncan, finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds.  Miami led most of the way, outrebounded the Spurs, and only had eight turnovers, but struggled in the fourth quarter, hitting on only 5 of their 18 shots with five turnovers in the final 12 minutes.  LeBron James had a triple double with 18 points, 18 rebounds, and 10 assists, but was held to only eight points in the second half.  Dwyane Wade finished with 17 points, Chris Bosh had 13, but was  0-4 from behind the three-point arc.  Can’t sweat over this loss too much - you have a game two on Sunday, start time is 8:00 pm, again here at home at the AAA.  Here are the game times and dates for the series, all games will be broadcast by ABC, Channel 10 in South Florida:

Game 2 Sun, June 9 8:00 pm @ Miami

Game 3 Tue, June 11 9:00 pm @ San Antonio

Game 4 Thu, June 13 9:00 pm @ San Antonio

Game 5     *       Sun, June 16 8:00 pm @ San Antonio

Game 6 * Tue, June 18 9:00 pm @ Miami

Game 7 * Thu, June 20 9:00 pm @ Miami

* If Necessary

Let’s go the the diamond.  Two young aces take the mound tonight at Citi Field as the Marlins visit the Mets for a three-game series this weekend.  Matt Harvey (5-0, 2.17 ERA) takes the mound for the Metropolitans, while Jose Fernandez (3-3, 3.34 ERA) toes the rubber for the Fish.  Against the Marlins so far in his young career, Harvey has given up 17 hits and four walks in 10 1/3 innings, with 12 strikeouts and an ERA of 4.35.  Fernandez has been terrific against the Mets, 1-0 with a 1.69 ERA, with 20 strikeouts in 16 innings.  Game time tonight is at 7:10 pm and you can watch the game on Fox Sports Florida on your cable or satellite system.  The expected pitching matchups for the rest of the weekend series are:

SATURDAY         Kevin Slowey vs Jon Niese        1:10 pm

SUNDAY Tom Koehler vs Jeremy Hefner 1:10 pm

The Marlins return home after the series with the Mets, and will take on the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and then will host the St. Louis Cardinals for a three-game series starting on Friday.

The Fish are still the worst run-scoring team in MLB, with 177 runs in their 60 games.  We congratulate the Pittsburgh Pirates, who have joined the party at the “bottom five” rankings in runs scored, even though they are 10 games over .500. 

TEAM                   W-L             Runs

Marlins       16-44   177

Nationals       29-30   201

White Sox       25-33   203

Dodgers       26-33     213

Pirates 35-25 220

Major League Baseball held their amateur player draft yesterday, and the Marlins had the sixth selection in the first round.  They drafted for need, and selected University of North Carolina third baseman Colin Moran.  In all the mock drafts I saw, everyone had  Moran going in the top five, and, fortunately for the Marlins, he lasted one more pick for them.  Moran has been a stud while at North Carolina.  In his freshman season, he was Baseball AMerica’s Freshman of the year, when he hit .335 with 9 homers and 71 RBI.  In 2012, he hit .365, with six homers and 35 RBI.  This past season was even better - .348, 13 home runs, and he led the nation with 86 RBI this season.  His #1 ranked Tar Heels are still playing to try and win the College World Series.  Moran has good blood lines, as he is the nephew of former major leaguer BJ Surhoff, who played for 19 years in the majors and had a .282 career average.  The Fish had two more picks in what was considered the first round.  With their Competitive Balance Pick (#35) they took left-handed pitcher Matt Krook, a 6-4, 210-pounder who touches 95 mph on the radar gun, from St. Ignatius High School in San Francisco.  Everyone expected Krook to go a lot earlier in the draft.  This could be a very good pick.  With the 44th pick, Trevor Williams was the choice, a sinkerball-throwing right-hander from Arizona State.  With the final pick of the day, (73rd overall), the Marlins took University of Arkansas closer Colby Suggs.  Suggs had a 1.74 ERA, with 29 strikeouts and opponents only hit .139 against him in 20 2/3 innings this past season.

Although it is very difficult to predict how any of these draft picks turn out, the Marlins picked the best player available to them with the sixth pick.  This guy could be making an impact as early as 2014.  A couple of other names to watch and follow in the near future:  OF Austin Meadows (Pirates), Clint Frazier (Indians), and two players drafted by the Yankees: 3B Eric Jagielo and OF Aaron Judge.   

Here is ESPN.com’s pick by pick analysis for the first round:

http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/mlb-draft/post/_/id/758/insider-live-pick-by-pick-analysis?addata=2009_insdr_mod_mlb_xxx_xxx

TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  Three potential hall of famers were selected number six in their respective draft.  Who are they?  Tell you later, alligator. 

In the major leagues yesterday, in the American League,

Tigers 5 Rays 2

Max Scherzer improved to 8-0, allowing one run and four hits in his seven innings of work.  Victor Martinez homered and finished with three RBI, Miguel Cabrera went 3-4 with an RBI.

Orioles 3 Astros 1 

JJ Hardy went 4-4 with an RBI, Miguel Gonzalez allowed five hits and one run in six innings, striking out seven.

Red Sox 6 Rangers 3

David Ortiz ended the game with a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Royals 7 Twins 3

The Royals rallied with four runs in the eighth inning to come back and defeat the Twins.  Lorenzo Cain had the key hit, a two-run homer.  

A’s 5 White Sox 4 (10 innings)

Adam Rosales hit the last of the A’s four homers in the game in the top of the tenth inning.  Yoenis Cespedes connected long distance twice, and Josh Reddick also went yard.  The A’s have won 17 out of their last 20 games.

Yankees 6 Mariners 1

The Yankees scored all their runs in the third inning, keyed by home runs by Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano.  Cano’s three run homer was followed by Teixeira’s solo blast.  Phil Hughes took a shutout into the eighth inning.

Over in the National League,

Cardinals 12 D-Backs 8

The Cardinals went on a home run barrage - Matt Adams, Matt Holliday, Matt Carpenter, Daniel Descalso, and pitcher Shelby Miller all connected long distance in the win.  Edward Mujica recorded the last two outs in the ninth inning to record his 18th save of the season.

Phillies 5 Brewers 1

Delmon Young hit a solo homer, John Mayberry went 3-5 with an RBI, and Ryan Howard also drove in a run as the Phillies went over the .500 mark (31-30) for the first time this season.

Padres 6 Rockies 5 (12 innings)

Yasmani Grandal drove in the go-ahead run on a force out grounder in the top of the 12th inning. 

Dodgers 5          Braves 0

Yasiel Puig’s impressive first week in the major leagues continued last night.  Puig blasted his third homer, a grand slam in the eighth inning, and Zack Greinke tossed seven shutout innings, striking out seven.  

The game between the Mets and Nationals yesterday in was postponed due to inclement weather in the Washington, DC area.  The game will be made up on July 26th as part of a day-night doubleheader.  

Today’s games:

In the American League,

Rangers @ Blue Jays         7:07 pm

Nick Tepesch vs Esmil Rogers

Indians @ Tigers 7:08 pm

Ubaldo Jimenez vs Justin Verlander

Orioles @ Rays 7:10 pm

Jason Hammel vs Chris Archer

Angels @ Red Sox 7:10 pm

Tommy Hanson vs Felix Doubront

Astros @ Royals 8:10 pm

Jordan Lyles vs James Shields

A’s @ White Sox 8:10 pm

Jarrod Parker vs Chris Sale

Yankees @ Mariners       10:10 pm

Hiroki Kuroda vs Jeremy Bonderman

Over in the National League,

Pirates @ Cubs         2:20 pm

Francisco Liriano vs Travis Wood

Twins @ Nationals 7:05 pm

Kevin Correia vs Nate Kearns

Cardinals @ Reds 7:10 pm

Adam Wainwright vs Mike Leake

Marlins @ Mets 7:10 pm

Jose Fernandez vs Matt Harvey

Phillies @ Brewers 8:10 pm

Cliff Lee vs Alfredo Figaro

Padres @ Rockies 8:40 pm

Edinson Volquez vs Jorge de la Rosa

Giants @ D-Backs 9:40 pm

Matt Cain vs Patrick Corbin

Braves @ Dodgers       10:10 pm

Paul Maholm vs Hyun-Jin Ryu

Yasiel Puig has made quite the first impression this week with the Dodgers.  The Dodgers have a history of producing Rookies of the Year, the most by any team in National League history.  Here is a photo collage of the Dodger award winners.  (Note:  Yahoo! Sports is not perfect.  They inserted a photo of NY Yankee legend Elston Howard in the group.)

http://sports.yahoo.com/photos/dodgers-rookies-of-the-year-slideshow/

ESPN Insider Mike Petriello has a “buyer beware” for teams that may be interested in trading for Giancarlo Stanton:

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/9348458/why-teams-wary-trading-ton-prospects-giancarlo-stanton-mlb?addata=2009_insdr_mod_mlb_xxx_xxx

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

http://espn.go.com/mlb/standings

Here are the individual league leaders in MLB:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/statistics

Former GM Jim Bowden, now with ESPN, talks about the fallout he expects from the PED situation:

http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/the-gms-office/post?id=6783

In college baseball, here is the NCAA tournament bracket this year.  The Super Regionals begin today, with the winners advancing to the College World Series in Omaha:

http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/baseball/d1

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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: 

http://www.descargadeportiva.com/_north_carolina_land

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Four potential hall of famers were selected number six in their respective draft.  Who are they?    

Barry Bonds  (Pirates, 1985)

Gary Sheffield (Brewers, 1986)

Derek Jeter (Yankees, 1992)

Zack Greinke (Royals, 2002)

The Marlins have had mixed results in the past when drafting that high.  Josh Beckett (#2 in 1999) and Adrian Gonzalez (#1 in 2000) were good picks.  Josh Booty (#5 in 1994), Jaime Jones (#6 in 1995), and Kyle Skipworth (#6 in 2008) are different stories.

Overall, 35 of the 49 players drafted in that spot have reached the majors (71%).  Let’s hope we see Colin Moran manning the hot corner in Miami very soon.

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!!!!

The Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs will tipoff their NBA Finals series tonight at the AAA.  Here are the game times and dates for the series, all games will be broadcast by ABC, Channel 10 in South Florida:

Game 1 Thu, June 6 9:00 pm @ Miami

Game 2 Sun, June 9 8:00 pm @ Miami

Game 3 Tue, June 11 9:00 pm @ San Antonio

Game 4 Thu, June 13 9:00 pm @ San Antonio

Game 5 * Sun, June 16 8:00 pm @ San Antonio

Game 6 * Tue, June 18 9:00 pm @ Miami

Game 7 * Thu, June 20 9:00 pm @ Miami

* -- If Necessary

The Spurs and Heat met with the media yesterday and they were full of compliments for each other.  Yahoo! Sports was there:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/9-very-nice-compliments-heat-spurs-pre-nba-224752510.html

These two teams met twice during the regular season, and believe me, those results mean absolutely nothing.  Miami won both games, by the way, at home on November 29, 105-100, and in San Antonio March 31, 88-86.  In the game in Miami, the Spurs rested four of their starters, choosing to send Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and Danny Green home to San Antonio during a long road trip.  The team and Head Coach Gregg Popovich were reprimanded and subsequently fined by the league.  In the game in San Antonio, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Mario Chalmers all missed the game due to assorted injuries.    

My thoughts on this series:  

The Spurs are a MUCH BETTER team than the Pacers, however, I believe they don’t matchup as well as the Pacers did against Miami.  We know Tim Duncan is a hall of fame player, and his presence and experience are huge.  His front-court partner, Tiago Splitter is a tall drink of water, but the 6’11” 240 pounder from Brazil isn’t going to ever be confused with David West.  Duncan is no spring chicken at 37 years of age, and although he is still a formidable player, he cannot be asked to carry the load 48 minutes per game.  First of all, Duncan is not the post-up player he used to be, and he is also going to have to worry about Chris Bosh on the defensive side of the court and Bosh’s midrange game is going to give him something to do.  Trust me:  Chris Bosh will come up big in the finals.  The Spurs are tall with Splitter and Duncan, but they are not nearly as athletic or as physically strong as Indiana’s Roy Hibbert and David West.  The Spurs were the 29th worst offensive rebounding team in the NBA this season, don’t look for these number to change against Miami.  

What will San Antonio do against LeBron James?  Pretty much not anything more than what the rest of the NBA is able to do against the best player in the game.  You can expect to see Kawhi Leonard match up against LeBron most of the time, and maybe Boris Diaw when Leonard is on the bench.  Danny Green will be spending most of his time guarding Dwyane Wade, and Wade really needs to come up big in this series.  His game 7 against the Pacers is a good sign.  Green could be effective against Wade, but  it comes back to, can anyone really hope to stop LeBron?  It wouldn’t surprise me to see LeBron put up 35-point games, while only attempting 12-15 shots.  

Spurs point guard Tony Parker should worry Miami a bit.  He is almost impossible to defend with the Spurs’ ability to use the pick and roll to free Parker up.  Miami will probably use different coverages to defend Parker, sometimes with quickness, other times with size and strength (spelled LeBron James).  I really don’t see the Heat just putting LeBron on Parker for long stretches because all LeBron would be doing is fighting through constant picks and screens.  Norris Cole and Mario Chalmers are going to have to cover Parker like black beans on white rice, and they need to make him work on defense.  I believe the X-factor for San Antonio is Manu Ginobili.  His role will continue to be to provide a safety valve for a driving Tony Parker, and if he shoots effectively, could pick apart the Heat’s defensive schemes and rotations.  If that happens, the series could be closer than what I expect.  

This is a case where the nine-day layoff could benefit the Spurs, and the seven-game brouhaha against the Pacers could have the Heat a bit tired.  I just don’t think so.  

The Heat were forced to change their game against a physically strong Pacers team, and Miami will be able to play their brand of “small ball” without having to take the physical punishment the Pacers were able to dish out.  Miami’s shooters, Ray Allen, Shane Battier, and Mike Miller, will open up the floor, pulling the Spurs’ front line away from the rim.  You cannot discount the advantage Miami will have by having an extra shooter on the floor at all times, as opposed to a bigger body that they needed to battle the Pacers.

As much as I have always loved the San Antonio Spurs and their head coach, Gregg Popovich, I truly believe that the 2013 edition of the Miami Heat and their head coach, Erik Spoelstra, will be able to win this series in five games.

TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  This year’s finals feature four players who have been named MVP of the finals previously.  (Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Tony Parker and Tim Duncan) Twice before, a series has had five Finals MVP’s playing.  When and who?  Tell you later, alligator. 

Let’s go the the diamond.  The Marlins starters continue to pitch well, but they have nothing to show for it as the Fish lost again today, 6-1.  Jacob Turner pitched 6 innings and allowed only one run, but left with the game tied at 1-1.  In the seventh, AJ Ramos allowed a two-run triple to Ryan Howard and a two-run homer by Domonic Brown, his 18th of the year.  The Fish have the day off today, as they prepare to take on the New York Mets in a three-game series this weekend up at Citi Field.  The expected pitching matchups are:

FRIDAY Jose Fernandez vs Matt Harvey 7:10 pm

SATURDAY Kevin Slowey vs Jon Niese 1:10 pm

SUNDAY Tom Koehler vs Jeremy Hefner 1:10 pm

The Marlins return home after the series with the Mets, and will take on the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and then will host the St. Louis Cardinals for a three-game series starting on Friday.

The Fish are still the worst run-scoring team in MLB, with 177 runs in their 60 games.  We congratulate the KC Royals, who have joined the party at the “bottom five” rankings in runs scored, replacing the Phillies. 

TEAM                   W-L   Runs

Marlins 16-44   177

White Sox            25-32   199

Nationals             29-30   201

Dodgers              25-33    208

Royals 24-32   214

In the major leagues yesterday, in the American League,

Yankees 6 Indians 4

CC Sabathia threw the complete game as the Yankees swept the three game series with the Indians.  Travis Hafner and Brett Gardner homered, Hafner with one man on, Gardner with two runners aboard.  

White Sox 7 Mariners 5 (16 innings)

In a truly bizarre game, Alejandro de Aza drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the 16th inning, but that wasn’t the story.  The teams were locked in a scoreless tie through 13 innings.  In the top of the 14th, the White Sox scored five runs, only to give up that lead in the bottom of the inning.  

Cubs 8 Angels 6 (10 innings)

Anthony Rizzo came through with a three-run double in the top of the tenth inning.  

Rays 3 Tigers 0

The Rays broke open a scoreless tie with three runs in the top of the ninth inning, with the go-ahead run scoring on a Matt Joyce sacrifice fly.

Rangers 3 Red Sox 2

Elvis Andrus hit a tie-breaking two run double in the seventh inning.    

Astros 11 Orioles 7

Matt Dominguez drove in three runs and was one of six Astros to connect long distance.  Jose Altuve, Jason Castro, JD Martinez, Carlos Peña, and Marwin Gonzalez all went yard.

Royals 4 Twins 1

David Lough went 2-4 with two RBI.

Over in the National League,

Braves 5 Pirates 0

Julio Teheran carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning while Evan Gattis (El Oso Blanco) and Gerald Laird connected back-to-back homers in the sixth inning.  The Braves swept the three-game series with the Pirates, and now head to Los Angeles to take on the Dodgers in a four-game series starting tomorrow.

A’s 6 Brewers 1

Bartolo Colon pitched seven innings of one-run ball, and has allowed only two runs in his last 4 games, covering 30 innings.  Brandon Moss homered with two on and Josh Donaldson went 3-4 with two RBI.

Blue Jays 4 Giants 0

RA Dickey pitched 8 1/3 innings, holding the Giants to two singles and two walks.  Dickey helped his own cause with the bat, connecting an RBI double to break a scoreless tie in the fifth inning.  Mark DeRosa added a two-run single.

Mets 10 Nationals 1

Marlon Byrd blasted two home runs, Byrd and Anthony Recker drove in three runs apiece.  David Wright also connected long distance in the win.

Rockies 12 Reds 4

It was the Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki show last night, as CarGo connected three home runs and drove in six runs, while Tulo finished with three RBI.  Todd Helton also joined the party with a two-run homer.

D-Backs 10 Cardinals 3

Paul Goldschmidt hit a grand slam and the Diamondbacks won for the fourth time in five games.  The Cardinals lost consecutive games for the first time since the end of April.

Padres 6 Dodgers 2

Jason Marquis took a no-hitter into the sixth inning as the Padres avoided a three-game sweep.  Jedd Gyorko connected long distance and Yasmani Grandal drove in two runs.  

Today’s games:

In the American League,

Rays @ Tigers 1:08 pm

Roberto Hernandez vs Max Scherzer

Orioles @ Astros 2:10 pm

Jason Hammel vs Bud Norris

Rangers @ Red Sox 7:10 pm

Derek Holland vs Jon Lester

Twins @ Royals 8:10 pm

Mike Pelfrey vs Wade Davis

A’s @ White Sox 8:10 pm

Dan Straily vs Jose Quintana

Yankees @ Mariners        10:10 pm

Phil Hughes vs Aaron Harang

Over in the National League,

Mets @ Nationals 7:05 pm

Shaun Marcum vs Gio Gonzalez

D-Backs @ Cardinals        7:15 pm

Ian Kennedy vs Shelby Miller

Phillies @ Brewers 8:10 pm

Tyler Cloyd vs Wily Peralta

Padres @ Rockies 8:40 pm

Andrew Cashner vs Jhoulys Chacin

Braves @ Dodgers          10:10 pm

Tim Hudson vs Zack Greinke

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

http://espn.go.com/mlb/standings

Here are the individual league leaders in MLB:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/statistics

The Biogenesis investigation is taking some interesting turns, and we can expect more of the same over the next few days, weeks, and months.  Here are some of the stories:

The overall picture on ESPN:

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/9301536/major-league-baseball-suspend-20-players-including-alex-rodriguez-ryan-braun-part-miami-investigation

There is a report out that Alex Rodriguez refused to give money to the owner of Biogenesis.  I guess if there is no hush money, the guy will throw everyone under the bus.  The complete story:

http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/9347278/alex-rodriguez-denied-tony-bosch-financial-help-request-according-report

Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan talks Alex Rodriguez as well:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/for-alex-rodriguez--biogenesis-scandal-is-one-mess-he-can-t-clean-up-alone-011436922.html

I’m positive that we will be hearing more and more on this in the coming days, weeks, and months.

More illegal drug stories.  Drug agents in Cleveland are investigating a shipment of marijuana that was sent to the home of Cleveland Indians closer Chris Perez.  Here’s the full story from ESPN:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/9345452/drug-agents-check-suspected-marijuana-shipment-chris-perez-cleveland-indians

In college baseball, here is the NCAA tournament bracket this year.  The Super Regionals begin tomorrow, with the winners advancing to the College World Series in Omaha:

http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/baseball/d1

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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: 

http://www.descargadeportiva.com/_north_carolina_land

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: his year’s finals feature four players who have been named MVP of the finals previously.  (Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Tony Parker and Tim Duncan) Twice before, a series has had five Finals MVP’s playing.  When and who?   

In 1985 and 1987, the Lakers and Celtics matched up and the teams had five Finals MVP’s on the court in those series:

1985 1987

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Magic Johnson Magic Johnson

Dennis Johnson                      Dennis Johnson

Larry Bird Larry Bird

Cedric “Cornbread” Maxwell Bill Walton       

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.