MLB – Major League Baseball
Last Night
Chicago Cubs 6, San Diego Padres 1
Chicago White Sox at Cleveland Indians, PPD Rain
Tigers were off
Cubs 6, Padres 1 – Baez, Rizzo lead surging Cubs past Padres 6-1
Javier Báez lined a two-run homer, Anthony Rizzo had two doubles among three hits and the surging Chicago Cubs beat the San Diego Padres 6-1 on for their third straight win and ninth in 10 games. Baez’s shot to the left-field bleachers was his 14th homer and third in three games, and it capped a three-run seventh that allowed Chicago to put it away. Rizzo drove in two runs in the fifth with his first double to snap 1-1 tie and posted a second-straight multihit game after missing the previous six with back tightness.
White Sox at Indians – White Sox-Indians postponed by rain; doubleheader Sept. 23
The Cleveland Indians have postponed Wednesday’s game against the Chicago White Sox because of rain. The teams will play a split doubleheader on Sept. 23. The Indians had been given permission by the state of Ohio to return to full capacity at Progressive Field starting Wednesday. Cleveland’s next home game is June 11 against Seattle. Chicago leads Cleveland by 2½ games in the AL Central.
Tonight
Detroit Tigers at Chicago White Sox, 8:10 p.m. 94.9 WSJM/103.7 Cosy-FM 7:50
Chicago Cubs at San Francisco Giants, 9:45 p.m.
NHL – 2021 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs – Round 2 – Best of 7
Last Night
Montreal Canadiens 5, Winnipeg Jets 3 (MTL leads 1-0)
Colorado Avalanche 3, Vegas Golden Knights 2 – OT (COL leads 2-0)
Tonight
Boston Bruins at New York Islanders, 7:30 p.m. (Series tied 1-1)
Carolina Hurricanes at Tampa Bay Lightning, 8:00 p.m. (TBL leads 2-0)
NHL – Last-place Sabres win draft lottery; Kraken get No. 2 pick
The Buffalo Sabres won the NHL draft lottery and the expansion Seattle Kraken jumped up the order to take the No. 2 pick Wednesday night. The Sabres have the No. 1 pick for the fourth time in franchise history and second in three years. It marks a turnaround for a team that finished last in the overall standings for the fourth time since 2013-14, and lost the draft lottery in both 2014 and ’15. The Kraken were seeded third with New Jersey, and jumped ahead of the Anaheim Ducks, who will be selecting third overall. The two-day draft will be held virtually for a second consecutive year, with the first round being held on July 23. Detroit will draft 6th. Chicago 11th.
NBA – National Basketball Association Playoffs – Round 1 – Best of 7
Last Night
Philadelphia 76ers 129, Washington Wizards 112 (PHI wins 4-1)
Atlanta Hawks 103, New York Knicks 89 (ATL wins 4-1)
Utah Jazz 126, Memphis Grizzlies 110 (UTA wins 4-1)
Dallas Mavericks 105, Los Angeles Clippers 100 (DAL leads 3-2)
Last Night
Denver Nuggets at Portland Trailblazers, 8:00 p.m. (DEN leads 3-2)
Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Lakers, 10:30 p.m. (PHX leads 3-2)
NBA – Detroit Pistons hire John Beilein in player development role
The Detroit Pistons have hired John Beilein as a senior adviser for player development. Beilein is a former coach at Michigan, where his teams made nine trips to the NCAA Tournament in his 12 seasons. He left to coach the Cleveland Cavaliers, but resigned last year after just 54 games. The Pistons say they are counting on Beilein to help develop their young roster under head coach Dwane Casey.
WNBA – Women’s National Basketball Association
Tonight
Chicago Sky at Phoenix Mercury, 10:00 p.m.
Indiana Fever at Los Angeles Sparks, 10:30 p.m.
NFL – Dalton says ‘mindset didn’t change’ when Bears landed Fields
Andy Dalton insists he understood the situation when he signed with the Chicago Bears and wasn’t blindsided when they drafted Justin Fields. The three-time Pro Bowl quarterback knows he is the starter for now. How long he stays in that spot remains to be seen. With voluntary offseason workouts underway, the two new quarterbacks are starting to get acclimated to the system and their surroundings. Dalton says his “mindset didn’t change” when the Bears traded up to draft Fields with the No. 11 pick. He says he is determined “to do everything I can to be the best player I can for this team and to help us win a lot of football games.”
NCAAMBB – Duke’s Krzyzewski to coach 1 final year, hand off to Scheyer
Mike Krzyzewski says next season will be his last leading the Duke program. The Hall of Famer and winningest coach in the history of Division I men’s basketball made the announcement Wednesday. The school also named former Duke player and associate head coach Jon Scheyer as Krzyzewski’s successor for the 2022-23 season. Stadium first reported news of the 74-year-old Krzyzewski’s final season with Duke, which he has led to five national championships. Krzyzewski has won 1,170 games going back to his time at Army, with 1,097 coming in 41 seasons with the Blue Devils.
Horse Racing – Medina Spirit drug test confirmed; Baffert suspended 2 years
Trainer Bob Baffert has been suspended for two years by Churchill Downs after an additional drug test of Medina Spirit confirmed the presence of the steroid betamethasone in the Kentucky Derby winner’s system. Disqualification of Medina Spirit could be next. The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission is still completing its investigation before making that ruling. But Baffert won’t be able to enter any horses in the Kentucky Derby or other races at the storied Louisville track through the spring of 2023. Churchill Downs says it reserves the right to extend Baffert’s suspension if he has any other violations in other states. Baffert has had five in the past 13 months.
Horse Racing – New horse racing chief calls sport’s clean-up ‘steep climb’
The chairman of horse racing’s future governing body says the failed drug test of Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit shows the need for a uniform set of rules and penalties in place of the sport’s current patchwork system. In his first public comments since being appointed chairman of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority’s board, Charlie Scheeler said Wednesday that Medina Spirit’s case is instructive for how the sport should be run going forward. The HISA takes effect in July 2022. Scheeler says making racing a safe, clean and fair sport is “quite a steep climb.”
Olympics – Biles and who? Olympic picture cloudy at US Championships
The Olympic picture for the U.S. men’s and women’s gymnastics team will start to clear up at the U.S. Championships. Defending world and Olympic champion Simone Biles and six-time men’s national champion Sam Mikulak are considered locks to go to Tokyo. After that, however, the picture gets murky. The Olympic postponement from 2020 to 2021 opened the door for an influx of new talent to enter the picture. Three-time world championship gold medalist MyKayla Skinner said the pandemic made the selection process more wide open than usual.
Olympics – 3x Olympic beach champ Walsh Jennings foiled in Tokyo bid
Three-time beach volleyball gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings was defeated in her bid to reach the Olympics for a sixth time when she and partner Brooke Sweat lost in a qualifying match in Ostrava, Czech Republic. The early-round loss to the Netherlands meant the U.S. pair could not overtake fellow Americans Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil on the international tour point list. Two-time Olympic medalist April Ross and Alix Klineman have already clinched a berth in Tokyo, and there is a quota of two teams for each country in each of the women’s and men’s fields. The U.S. men’s berths are still up for grabs.
Olympics – 10,000 volunteers drop out; Tokyo Olympics open in 50 days
About 10,000 of 80,000 unpaid volunteers for the Tokyo Olympics have told organizers they will not participate when the games open on July 23. Organizers said some dropped out because of worries about COVID-19. Few volunteers are expected to be vaccinated since most will not have contact with athletes or other key personnel. Only about 2 to 3 percent of Japan’s general population is fully vaccinated. Unpaid volunteers are a key workforce in running the Olympics and save organizers millions of dollars in salaries. Volunteers typically get a uniform, meals on the day they work, and have daily commuting costs covered.
MILB – Minor League Baseball – High-A Central
Yesterday
South Bend Cubs 4, Lansing Lugnuts 1
Great Lakes Loons 5, West Michigan Whitecaps 4
Tonight
South Bend Cubs at Lansing Lugnuts, 7:05 p.m.
West Michigan Whitecaps at Great Lakes Loons, 7:05 p.m.
MHSAA – Benton Harbor names Sheldon Nelson as head football coach
The Benton Harbor football team has their new football coach, promoting longtime assistant coach Sheldon Nelson to the role as head coach. Nelson has been at Benton Harbor for 22 years, serving under the previous 6 head coaches. Nelson began with the Tigers program at the middle school level, climbing the ranks and now making it to the top of the program. Nelson said that he hopes to bring more athletes back into the football program. The Tigers went 2-5 last season. losing in the first round of the playoffs to Kalamazoo United. Benton Harbor is scheduled to open the 2021 season on Friday, August 27th at Berrien Springs, where they will face former Tiger head coach Elliot Uzelac.
MHSAA – High School Sports
Yesterday
Soccer – District Semifinals
Division 4 at Lake Michigan Catholic (local sites host)
Lake Michigan Catholic 1, Bridgman 0
Schoolcraft 7, Michigan Lutheran 1
Softball – Regular Season
Lawrence 23, Eau Claire 10 – Game 1
Lawrence 14, Eau Claire 0 – Game 2
Berrien Springs 12, Three Rivers 10 – Game 1
Three Rivers 8, Berrien Springs 6 – Game 2
- History was made during the first game as Three Rivers’ Kali Heivilin set a new state record by hitting her 26th and 27th home runs of the season. In game 2 Heivilin added to the her record by hitting her 28th home run of the season.
Tonight
Soccer – District Finals
Division 3 at Brandywine
Three Rivers vs. Dowagiac, 5:00 p.m.
Division 3 at Comstock
Comstock vs. Springport, 6:00 p.m.
Division 3 at Comstock
Comstock vs. Springport, 6:00 p.m.
Division 4 at Hartford
Saugatuck vs. Holland Black River, 5:00 p.m.
