Sports Jam Session / Descarga Deportiva

Friday, May 23, 2014

The NBA playoffs took a couple of days off as the teams traveled to new venues.

On Saturday, the Heat and the Pacers will be back at it at the AAA at 8:30 pm for game three of their series. Game four will be on Monday, also at 8:30 pm. In case you've been sleeping, the series is tied at one game apiece.

Click below for the latest from the local media:

Coach Spoelstra receptive to inout from his players during games

Dwyane Wade is still D-Wade

The San Antonio Spurs, on the other hand, have a 2-0 lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder as the series continues in OkC on Sunday at 8:30 pm with game three. Game four will be played on Tuesday at 9:00 pm.

Click below for ESPN’s continuing coverage of both playoff match ups:

Let’s go to MLB:

After losing the opener against the Phillies, the Marlins rebounded nicely and took the next two from the Phils. Yesterday, it was a walk off win, as Christian Yelich drove in the winning run in with a single in the bottom of the ninth inning.

The Fish now take on the Milwaukee Brewers in a three-game weekend series, before heading out to Washington, DC to take on the Nationals in a three-game set. After a day off next Thursday, the Marlins return to Marlins Park for a weekend series against the Atlanta Braves, and for two games against cross-state rivals Tampa Bay in their yearly home/away series.

Here are the projected starters for the Brewers series:

Friday Marco Estrada vs Tom Koehler 7:10 pm

Saturday Wily Peralta vs Jacob Turner 4:10 pm

Sunday Yovani Gallardo vs Randy Wolf 1:10 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

Here are the individual leaders in the majors:

Individual batting and pitching leaders

TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Remember Mark Buehrle and his brief one-year Marlins career? Buehrle leads the American League (and all of MLB) with eight wins this season so far. Who was the last Blue Jay to lead the league in wins? The answer comes later, alligator.

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

Dodgers minor league infielder Alex Guerrero is out indefinitely, and there are questions as to whether his ear will be ok after the dugout fight with Miguel Olivo. The Dodgers released Olivo after the incident in which he bit Guerrero’s ear.

Cubs starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija continues to dominate, leading the majors with a 1.46 ERA. However, in a total of 10 starts, he is still winless this season. That is totally freaky.

Prince Fielder will undergo season-ending neck surgery. He is suffering from a disk injury in his neck, and it has been causing him weakness in his left arm. Fielder had played in 547 consecutive games.

The Mets beat the Dodgers on Thursday, 5-3. The big news is that Zack Greinke’s streak of 21 consecutive starts allowing two runs or less is over.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

I told you not to lose any sleep over it. The Eastern Conference Finals series is now tied at a game apiece, after the Heat took back the home court advantage last night, beating the Indiana Pacers by the score of 87-83. Miami has now won 11 consecutive playoff games after a loss. The Heat played much better on the defensive side of the court, but it was a fourth quarter domination by LeBron James and Dwyane Wade that gave the Heat the win. LeBron and D-Wade combined for 22 points in the quarter, outscoring the Pacers as a team, 22-20. James finished with 22 points, Wade led the Heat with 23.

A good effort yesterday by the bench as well, as Chris Andersen and Norris Cole stepped it up as well. The Birdman continues to do good things when he is on the court, and Cole found his shot and was a nuisance guarding Lance Stephenson in the fourth quarter. Andersen dominated on the boards, taking down 12 rebounds, and Cole scored 11 points with no turnovers in his 27 minutes of action.

One thing to look at as the series heads back to Miami for game three on Saturday: when the Heat has opted to have both Andersen and Chris Bosh on the court at the same time against the Pacers, Miami has outscored the Pacers by 25 points in 80 minutes over the last two seasons, including during the playoffs. Last night, in the 29 minutes that Andersen was on the court, Miami outscored the Pacers by 25 points, holding them to a 29% shooting percentage from the floor. Birdman’s presence has definitely been felt.

Mark your calendars . . . Game Three is on Saturday, at 8:30 pm, and game four will be on Monday, also at 8:30. Saturday’s game will be broadcast on ABC, while Monday’s encounter will be televised by ESPN.

Out west, the San Antonio Spurs host the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight in game two of their Western Conference Final series. San Antonio leads that series 1-0, after beating the Thunder 122-105, thanks mostly to Tim Duncan, who scored 27 points to lead five players in double figures. Manu Ginobili came off the bench to score 18, Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard each tallied 16, and Tony Parker scored 14 and dished out 12 assists. The Spurs and the Thunder take the court tonight is at 9:00 pm, and you can catch the game on TNT on your cable or satellite system.

TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: The San Antonio Spurs entered this year’s conference finals without a single player averaging over 20 points a game. Over the last 20 years, no team without a 20-point scorer has won an NBA championship. Who was the last team to accomplish this feat? The answer comes later, alligator.

NBA game summaries

Playoff Schedule

Let’s go to MLB:

The Marlins opened up their series against the Phillies last night on the wrong foot, falling 6-5. AJ Burnett struggled but managed to last 5 innings to notch the win against his former team. The Fish, who lost for the first time since May 3rd at Marlins Park, made it interesting in the ninth inning against closer Jonathan Papelbon, but fell just short. Their home record is still the best in the major leagues, at 17-6.

Miami will send Nathan Eovaldi to the hill tonight against Kyle Kendrick as they try to get back to their winning ways at home.

Here are the projected starters for the rest of the Phillies series:

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:

Jose Fernandez admitted that he was pitching in pain and keeping it from the Marlins. The Sentinel and the Herald are all over this:

From the Miami Herald

From the Sentinel

We know now that Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is human. Tanaka lost his first game in the majors last night, falling to the lowly Chicago Cubs, 6-1. Tanaka lost for the first time in 42 regular season games, having gone 34-0 in Japan and in the majors the last two season.

The Braves got another outstanding pitching performance, last night it came from Julio Teheran, who shut out the Brewers, 5-0. Teheran allowed only three hits and struck out eight.

In a “kids will be kids” moment, there was a dugout fight between Cuban infielder Alex Guerrero and catcher Miguel Olivo during a game for the Dodgers AAA team in Albuquerque. Guerrero lost part of his ear during the scuffle. Here’s the story from Fox Sports, along with some video:

A Mike Tyson / Evander Holyfield moment in Albuquerque

The Red Sox continue to struggle, losing five in a row. They really miss Jacoby Ellsbury and Jarod Saltalamachia. After going from last to first last year, 2014 may be the opposite.

The Yankees aren’t exactly lighting it up out there themselves. Two of their three top starters (CC Sabathia and Michael Pineda) are on the DL, with no timetable for their return in sight. They need Hiroki Kuroda to get back to his usual level of effectiveness, and their youngsters (David Phelps, Vidal Nuno, and Chase Whitley) need to come through on a consistent level. The bullpen needs to kick it up a notch as well. Kudos, however, to new closer David Robertson. D-Rob has done a terrific job so far this year in filling the huge shoes of Mariano Rivera. Robertson is 8-8 in save opportunities in 2014, including a couple of games in which he had to enter the game in the eighth inning. In 11 ⅔ innings, he has 15 strikeouts vs only two walks, and has held opposing batters to a .128 average.

The best team you never hear or talk about? The Oakland A’s. The A’s have won 9 out of their last 10, and have outscored their opposition so far this season by a whopping 98 runs.

Tony LaRussa is back in baseball, joining the Arizona Diamondbacks as chief baseball officer. The D-backs are a franchise in disarray, as their 18-29 record will attest. Their front office has made some awful trades recently, and they have the worst pitching staff ERA in the majors (4.79).

LaRussa is totally against today’s philosophies of computer metrics, business school graduates, and “Moneyball”. It will be interesting to see how he fares. As history has shown us, LaRussa has been successful at every stop during his baseball career.

Monday, May 19, 2014

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.