Weekday Morning Sports – Monday 9/26/16

sportsreport

95.7 & 1400 WSJM Sports     @wsjmsports     wsjmsports.com     Monday, September 26, 2016

Golf – Arnold Palmer dies
Golf legend Arnold Palmer has died at age 87, 52 years after winning his fourth and final Masters title. Arnold Palmer Enterprises CEO Alastair Johnson confirmed that the golf icon died Sunday of complications from heart problems. Palmer captured 62 PGA titles and seven majors while turning the sport into a must-watch event on television.

MLB – Major League Baseball
Yesterday
Kansas City Royals 12, Detroit Tigers 9
Chicago White Sox 3, Cleveland Indians 0
Chicago Cubs 3, St. Louis Cardinals 1

Royals 12, Tigers 9 – Royals win 12-9, knock Tigers 1 ½ behind wild card
Salvador Perez homered to cap a cycle by Kansas City’s first four batters of the game, and the Royals went deep three more times to beat Detroit 12-9 Sunday and drop the Tigers in the AL wild-card race. The Tigers’ loss cut Cleveland’s magic number to clinch the AL Central to one _ the Indians start a four-game series in Detroit on Monday night.

White Sox 3, Indians 0 – Indians’ title hopes denied by Rodon, lose 3-0 to White Sox
Carlos Rodon struck out a career-high 11 over eight dominant innings and the Chicago White Sox denied Cleveland the chance of clinching the AL Central title by beating the Indians 3-0 Sunday. It was a disappointing finish for the Indians at Progressive Field, where they went 50-27 and had 11 walk-off wins in a season of comebacks.

Cubs 3, Cardinals 1 – Ross helps Cubs edge Cardinals 3-1
David Ross homered and teamed with Jon Lester for another scoreless performance, and the Chicago Cubs hurt St. Louis’ wild-card chances with 3-1 victory over the Cardinals Sunday night. The Cardinals lost for the third time in four games, wasting a chance to improve their playoff positioning. They remain a half-game back of San Francisco for the second NL wild card.

Today
Chicago Cubs (Hendricks 15-8) at Pittsburgh (Kuhl 5-3), 7:05 p.m.Cleveland (Kluber 18-9) at Detroit (Farmer 0-0), 7:10 p.m.  Superhits 103.7 Cosy-FM 6:45
Tampa Bay (Smyly 7-11) at Chicago White Sox (Shields 5-18), 8:10 p.m.

MLB – Miami pitcher killed in boating accident
Authorities say Marlins ace pitcher Jose Fernandez and two others were killed when their 32-foot vessel slammed into a jetty off Miami Beach. A spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says none of the victims wore a life jacket, and that there was no immediate indication that alcohol or drugs were a cause in the crash. Fernandez won the National League Rookie of the Year award in 2013 and had successfully returned to form following Tommy John surgery.

CFL – Stampeders confirm death of defensive back Mylan Hicks
The Calgary Stampeders say team member Mylan Hicks, a former Michigan State defensive back, has been killed at the age of 23.  The Stampeders say in statement that Hicks’ “life was taken in an act of violence.” Police said earlier Sunday they were investigating a shooting outside a Calgary nightclub. They said in a statement that the victim, whom they did not identify, was taken to a hospital in life-threatening condition before dying of his injuries. Hicks, who signed with the Stampeders in May and was on Calgary’s practice roster, was born in Detroit. At Michigan State, he recorded a career-high 19 tackles and four pass breakups in nine games during his senior year in 2014. Hicks signed with the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent in May 2015 before being released at the end of training camp.

NFL – National Football League – Week 3
Last Night
Green Bay Packers 34, Detroit Lions 27
Dallas Cowboys 31, Chicago Bears 17

Other Scores
Oakland 17, Tennessee 10
Denver 29, Cincinnati 17
Minnesota 22, Carolina 10
Baltimore 19, Jacksonville 17
Buffalo 33, Arizona 18
Washington 29, N.Y. Giants 27
Miami 30, Cleveland 24, OT
Seattle 37, San Francisco 18
Kansas City 24, N.Y. Jets 3
Philadelphia 34, Pittsburgh 3
Indianapolis 26, San Diego 22
Los Angeles 37, Tampa Bay 32

Packers 34, Lions 27 – Offense hums early before Packers hold off Lions 34-27
Aaron Rodgers threw for 205 yards and four touchdowns, including two in the first half to Jordy Nelson, and the Green Bay Packers snapped out of their offensive funk before holding off the Detroit Lions for a 34-27 win Sunday. Rodgers was 15 of 24, leading the Packers to touchdowns on their first three series. Nelson had 101 yards on six catches, returning to the form that made him one of the NFL’s best receivers before missing the 2015 season with a knee injury.  The Packers (2-1) led 31-10 at the half before the Lions slowly chipped away. Marvin Jones’ 35-yard touchdown catch with 3:34 left got Detroit (1-2) within seven. Jones had a career-high 205 yards on six receptions. Matthew Stafford passed for 385 yards and three scores for the Lions, who held advantages in total yardage (418-324) and time of possession, holding the ball for 35 minutes.  But the Packers burned the secondary with big plays, and Eddie Lacy ran for 103 yards on 17 carries.

Cowboys 31, Bears 17 – Rookie Dak Prescott solid again, Cowboys beat Bears 31-17
Dak Prescott led scoring drives on all four Dallas possessions in the first half before throwing his first career touchdown pass, and the Cowboys beat the Chicago Bears 31-17 Sunday night to snap an eight-game home losing streak. With his second straight win, Prescott doubled the number of victories the Cowboys (2-1) had in 14 games without injured quarterback Tony Romo over three seasons before the rookie 4th round pick from Mississippi State showed up.  Brian Hoyer had trouble moving the Chicago offense early with Jay Cutler sidelined by a sprained right thumb as the Bears fell behind 24-3 at halftime and dropped to 0-3 for the second time in two seasons under coach John Fox. Making his 27th career start for his fourth different team, Hoyer was 30 of 49 for 317 yards _ a good portion of that with the game out of each late in the fourth quarter _ and threw for two scores to Zach Miller. It was Chicago’s first game without linebackers Danny Trevathan (sprain thumb) and Lamarr Houston (season-ending left ACL year). And the Bears struggled to slow the Cowboys, getting outgained 274-114 in the first half. Dallas had a 19-4 edge in first downs before halftime and finished with 447 yards, including 199 on the ground.

Tonight
Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints, 8:30 p.m.                       95.7 & 1400 WSJM Sports, 8:00

NCAA Football – ND fires defensive coordinator after 1-3 start
Hours after an embarrassing 38-35 home loss to Duke, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly has fired defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder following a 1-3 start. The school tweeted a new release Sunday saying VanGorder is being replaced by defensive analyst Greg Hudson. The Irish’s defense is giving up 33.5 points a game through four games, which is on pace to be the most points in school history.

NCAA Football – Miles out as coach
LSU has fired head football coach Les Miles and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron after an 18-13 loss at Auburn dropped the Tigers to 2-2. Miles was 114-34 in 12 seasons as coach of the Tigers, who were ranked fifth in this year’s AP preseason poll. Defensive line coach Ed Orgeron has been promoted to interim head coach.

NCAA Football – AP Poll
The top seven spots in the new Associated Press Top-25 poll are the same as last week, with Alabama leading Ohio State, Louisville, Michigan, Clemson, Houston and Stanford.  Alabama received 50 first-place nods, while Ohio State got four, Louisville six and Michigan one.

1 Alabama (50) 4-0
2 Ohio State (4) 3-0
3 Louisville (6) 4-0
4 Michigan (1) 4-0
5 Clemson 4-0
6 Houston 4-0
7 Stanford 3-0
8 Wisconsin 4-0
9 Texas A&M 4-0
10 Washington 4-0
11 Tennessee 4-0
12 Florida State 3-1
13 Baylor 4-0
14 Miami 3-0
15 Nebraska 4-0
16 Ole Miss 2-2
17 Michigan State 2-1
18 Utah 4-0
19 San Diego State 3-0
20 Arkansas 3-1
21 TCU 3-1
22 Texas 2-1
23 Florida 3-1
24 Boise State 3-0
25 Georgia 3-1

WNBA – WNBA Playoffs
Last Night
Chicago Sky 108, Atlanta Dream 98

Sky 108, Dream 98 – Sky slows McCoughtry in 2nd half to advance to WNBA semis
Courtney Vandersloot scored 21 points with 13 assists, Jessica Breland had 20 points and 16 rebounds, and the Chicago Sky beat the Atlanta Dream 108-98 Sunday to advance to the semifinals of the WNBA playoffs. The Sky broke it open in the first five minutes of the third quarter in
Rosemont.

MHSAA – High School Sports
Tonight
Boys Soccer
Lake Michigan Catholic at Bridgman, 5:00 p.m.
Kalamazoo Loy Norrix at Buchanan, 5:30 p.m.
Comstock at Cassopolis, 5:00 p.m.
Battle Creek Calhoun Christian at Howardsville Christian, 6:00 p.m.
Dowagiac at Allegan, 6:45 p.m.
Paw Paw at Edwardsburg, 5:30 p.m.
Vicksburg at Plainwell, 6:45 p.m.
Otsego at South Haven, 6:45 p.m.
Sturgis at Three Rivers, 6:45 p.m.
Lawrence at Covert, 5:30 p.m.
Bloomingdale at Delton-Kellogg, 6:00 p.m.
Coloma at Gobles, 5:00 p.m.
Hartford at Kalamazoo Hackett, 6:00 p.m.
Fennville at Lawton, 6:00 p.m.
Bangor at Marcellus, 6:00 p.m.
Saugatuck at Schoolcraft, 6:00 p.m.

Girls Volleyball
St. Joseph at Three Rivers, 6:00 p.m.
New Buffalo & Michigan Lutheran at Bridgman, 4:00 p.m.

Boys Tennis
St. Joseph at Holland Christian, 4:00 p.m.