Weekday Morning Sports – Wednesday 10/22/14

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Sports Radio 1400 WSJM     @wsjmsports      wsjmsports.com     Wednesday, October 22, 2014

MLB – 2014 World Series
Last Night
San Francisco Giants 7, Kansas City Royals 1                                       (Giants Lead Series 1-0)

Giants 7, Royals 1 – Giants clobber Royals in series opener
Madison Bumgarner was on top of his game, James Shields was not, and the San Francisco Giants cruised to an easy victory over the Royals in Game 1 of the “wild card” World Series in Kansas City. Bumgarner was superb as the Giants earned a 7-1 victory, holding the Royals to a run and three hits with five strikeouts in seven innings. The Giants ace was working on a two-hit shutout until Salvador Perez homered with two out in the bottom of the seventh. Before the blast, the Giants already had forged a 7-0 lead. San Francisco got all the runs it needed during the first inning off Shields as Pablo Sandoval hit an RBI double before scoring on Hunter Pence’s two-run homer. Pence was 2-for-3 with two runs scored. The Giants added two runs in the fourth before Joe Panik laced an RBI triple off Danny Duffy and came home on Sandoval’s run-scoring single in the seventh. Gregor Blanco padded the Giants’ 10-hit attack by going 1-for-3 with bases-loaded walk and two runs scored. It was a short evening for Shields, who was tagged for five runs and seven hits in three-plus innings. Although his nickname is “Big Game James,” Shields is 3-5 with a 5.74 ERA in 53 1/3 innings over 10 career postseason starts.

Tonight
San Francisco (Peavy 6-4) at Kansas City (Ventura 14-10), 8:07 p.m.      (Giants Lead Series 1-0)

NHL – National Hockey League
Last Night
Montreal Canadiens 2, Detroit Red Wings 1 – OT
Chicago Blackhawks 4, Philadelphia Flyers 0

Canadiens 2, Red Wings 1 – OT – Desharnais scores in OT to give Montreal 2-1 win
David Desharnais scored 56 seconds into overtime to give the Montreal Canadiens a comeback 2-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night. Desharnais poked the puck in from the side of the net after Jimmy Howard made saves on shots from Max Pacioretty and P.K. Subban as Montreal won a third game in a row. Henrik Zetterberg, with an assist from Pavel Datsyuk, scored in the second period for Detroit. Alex Galchenyuk tied the game with 3:09 left in the third period with each team down a man as he came out from behind the net and stuffed the puck inside the post.  Detroit appeared to take a 2-0 lead early in the third on a goal by Pavel Datsyuk, but the goal was disallowed when officials said that Price was interfered with by Justin Abdelkader.

Blackhawks 4, Flyers 0 – Raanta leads Blackhawks past Flyers 4-0
Antti Raanta made 32 saves to earn a shutout in his first start of the season, and Patrick Kane scored two power-play goals to lead the Chicago Blackhawks past the Philadelphia Flyers 4-0 on Tuesday night. Chicago’s Brandon Saad and Bryan Bickell scored along with Kane in a 2:06 flurry late in the first period. Raanta was sharp as he stepped in for Corey Crawford _ Chicago’s No. 1 goalie who is out day-to-day with an upper-body injury _ to record his second career shutout.  Among his saves were two point-blank stops on Philadelphia’s Claude Giroux and one on Matt Read late in the second period. Besides their first goals this season, Saad and Bickell each had assists as Chicago’s third line, centered by Brad Richards, clicked and the Blackhawks improved to 4-0-1.

NBA – Bulls G Butler to miss final preseason game
The Chicago Bulls say guard Jimmy Butler will miss their final preseason game with a sprained left thumb. Butler was injured when he deflected a pass in the first quarter of Sunday night’s 101-96 victory over Charlotte. The Bulls announced on Tuesday that an MRI and subsequent examinations had confirmed the diagnosis of sprained thumb ligaments. Butler will miss practice this week and will be re-evaluated after Chicago plays Minnesota in St. Louis on Friday night. Butler averaged a career-high 13.1 points and 4.9 rebounds in 67 games last season. He also is regarded as a strong perimeter defender. Chicago opens the regular season on Oct. 29 at the New York Knicks.

NFL – AP sources: Rice’s appeal hearing set for Nov. 5-6
People familiar with the situation say a hearing on Ray Rice’s appeal of his indefinite suspension will be held Nov. 5 and 6. The people spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity today because details of the hearing have not been made public. Rice was suspended indefinitely Sept. 8 for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy after a video of Rice hitting his then-fiancee in an elevator was released publicly. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell originally had suspended Rice for two games.

NFL – Cowboys release Michael Sam from practice squad…Bills go to Plan B
The Dallas Cowboys have released defensive end Michael Sam from the practice squad, causing the NFL’s first openly gay player to find a third team since being drafted by St. Louis this year.  Sam spent seven weeks with the Cowboys after joining their practice squad Sept. 3. He went to Dallas four days after being released by the Rams, who selected him in the seventh round of the draft.

NCAA Football – Spartans downplay being heavy favorites in rivalry
For years, the story rarely changed when Michigan State faced Michigan. The Wolverines would usually win and then move on to more important matters, such as the matchup with Ohio State. Motivation was seldom a problem for the Spartans back then, but it didn’t seem to help them on the field. Mark Dantonio’s arrival as Michigan State’s coach changed all that. The Spartans still approached the game with the same level of urgency, and the results finally began to turn in their favor.  Now, eighth-ranked Michigan State (6-1, 3-0 Big Ten) is favored by more than two touchdowns for Saturday’s matchup with the Wolverines (3-4, 1-2).

NCAA Football – MAC agrees to backup deal with Detroit-based bowl
The Mid-Amercian Conference has agreed to a six-year deal with the new Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit to be the game’s back league if the Big Ten or Atlantic Coast Conference cannot fill one of its spots. The first Quick Lane Bowl will be played Dec. 26 at Ford Field in Detroit, the home of the NFL’s Lions. The MAC has been holding its conference championship game at Ford Field since 2004. It was a primary bowl partner with the Detroit-based Motor City Bowl and the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl for 17 years. The MAC has five primary poll partners this season: GoDaddy Bowl in Mobile, Alabama; Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise, Idaho; Camellia Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama; Boca Raton Bowl in Florida; and Bahamas Bowl in Nassau, Bahamas.

NCAA – Pa. governor dropped from lawsuit
The NCAA has dropped Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett from its lawsuit challenging a state law that limits where $60 million in Penn State fine money can be spent. It also dropped Auditor General Eugene DePasquale. It reached a deal with lawyers for the officials saying they’re not important to the case. The lawsuit stems from a 2013 law requiring fines levied after the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal to be spent on Pennsylvania child abuse programs.

HSFB – Coach of football team charged in hazing suspended
The Sayreville, New Jersey, board of education has suspended head football coach George Najjar (NAY’-jar) and four assistants following charges of sexual assault and hazing. Seven members of the Sayreville War Memorial High School team have been charged with crimes ranging from hazing to aggravated sexual assault over what happened last month. Their names haven’t been released because they are under 18. The school’s football season has been canceled.

Youth Football – Parents’ brawl gets teams banned from playoffs
Two Seattle-area youth football teams for players 9 and 10 years old have been banned from the playoffs _ not for anything they’ve done wrong, but because of their parents. The council for the Greater Eastside Junior Football Association banned the Renton Five Stars and the Bothell Cougars after a brawl in the stands at an Oct. 4 game in Bothell. KOMO reports police cited two Bothell parents and recommended assault charges. The Bothell Cougars did not qualify for the playoffs this year, but the Renton Five Stars did. The Renton parents feel their punishment is especially unfair.

ECHL – East Coast Hockey League
Tonight
Kalamazoo Wings at Indy Fuel, 7:05 p.m.

MHSAA – High School Sports
Last Night
Boys Soccer – Districts
Division 2 at Gull Lake
Mason 1, St. Joseph 0

Division 3 at GR South Christian
Paw Paw 2, Lansing Catholic 1

Division 4 at Lawton
Kalamazoo Hackett 2, Lake Michigan Catholic 0

Girls Volleyball
Michigan Lutheran 3, River Valley 0
Lake Michigan Catholic 3, Watervliet Grace Christian 0
New Buffalo 3, Benton Harbor 0

Girls Swimming
St. Joseph 116, Kalamazoo Central 70
Bridgman/Lakeshore 118, Battle Creek Central 63
Plainwell 110, South Haven 71

Today
Girls Volleyball
St. Joseph at Portage Central, 6:30 p.m.
Lakeshore at Niles, 6:30 p.m.
Portage Northern at Benton Harbor, 6:30 p.m.