MLB – Major League Baseball
Last Night
Detroit Tigers at Cleveland Guardians, PPD to 8/18 – Rain
Cubs and White Sox were off
Tigers at Guardians – PPD – Guardians and Tigers are postponed and will play a straight doubleheader Friday
The series opener between the Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers was postponed because of rain in the forecast. The AL Central rivals will play a straight doubleheader at Progressive Field today beginning at 4:10 p.m. The Tigers will be playing their sixth doubleheader of the season, while Cleveland is set for its third. Shortstop Javier Báez, who has been on the bereavement list since Sunday, will rejoin the Tigers before the first game. Báez traveled to Puerto Rico following the death of his grandfather.
Today
Kansas City (Ragans 3-4) at Chicago Cubs (Taillon 7-7), 2:20 p.m.
Detroit (Skubal 2-2) at Cleveland (Williams 1-3), 4:10 p.m. – Game 1 News/Talk/Sports 94.9 WSJM 3:45
Detroit (Manning 4-4) at Cleveland (Curry 3-1), 7:40 p.m., – Game 2 News/Talk/Sports 94.9 WSJM
Chicago White Sox (Kopech 5-10) at Colorado (Lambert 2-4), 8:40 p.m.
MLB – White Sox Anderson has suspension for fight trimmed to 5 games
Chicago White Sox star Tim Anderson had his six-game suspension for fighting Cleveland’s José Ramírez and triggering a benches-clearing brawl reduced to five games under a settlement with Major League Baseball. Anderson will start serving the punishment Friday, when the White Sox open a three-game series at Colorado. Ramírez served two games after initially being suspended for three. Anderson was given the harsher penalty for instigating the fight on Aug. 5. He and Ramirez faced off in the middle of the infield like boxers. Anderson connected with a couple punches before Ramirez dropped him with a blow to the face. The fight started after Ramirez slid headfirst into second between Anderson’s legs with an RBI double. He seemed upset by a hard tag.
NFL – National Football League – Preseason Week 2
Last Night
Cleveland Browns 18, Philadelphia Eagles 18 – TIE
Tonight
Carolina Panthers at New York Giants, 7:00 p.m.
Cincinnati Bengals at Atlanta Falcons, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday
Jacksonville Jaguars at Detroit Lions, 1:00 p.m.
Chicago Bears at Indianapolis Colts, 7:00 p.m.
NFL – Lions WR Jameson Williams has another setback, likely out for preseason
Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell says receiver Jameson Williams will likely miss the rest of the preseason with a hamstring injury. Williams’ injury is another setback for the former Alabama star. He grabbed his right hamstring while running a pass route Wednesday, left the field for treatment and did not return. He hurt his left leg earlier in training camp and missed four practices. Campbell also said Thursday that receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown is expected to be back next week after the third-year standout hurt his right ankle in a 7-on-7 drill on Wednesday.
NFL – Colts players embrace reunion with Matt Eberflus during joint practice with Bears
Indianapolis Colts cornerback Kenny Moore II took a moment to reflect on this week’s reunion with Matt Eberflus. Back then, in 2018, it was the Colts defensive coordinator who saw enough talent in Moore to turn the one-time undrafted rookie into a starter and eventually a Pro Bowler. Then after the 2021 season, Eberflus took the Chicago Bears head coaching job and the two have only spoken sparingly. So with two joint practices this week not far from the Colts headquarters and a preseason game Saturday, Moore is relishing the opportunity to spend some time with Eberflus.
NBA – NBA releases schedule for 2023/24, with an eye on player rest and travel
Maximizing player rest and limiting travel demands were again part of the NBA’s formula for the coming regular season. That’s what the league indicated Thursday when announcing the schedule for 2023-24. Teams have an average of 14 instances of back-to-back games this season, up slightly from last year’s rate of 13.3 per team. But back-to-backs involving travel are down to 9.0 on average. The rate of those last season was 9.6 per team. No team will play the day before or after high-profile national television games, such as Christmas matchups and all ABC weekend matchups.
FIFA – 2023 Women’s World Cup
Sunday
Women’s World Cup Final
England vs. Spain, 6:00 a.m.
WNBA – Women’s National Basketball Association
Tonight
Washington Mystics at Indiana Fever, 7:00 p.m.
Chicago Sky at Atlanta Dream, 7:30 p.m.
WNBA – Chicago Sky trying to squeeze into playoffs after undergoing major changes
The Chicago Sky saw big stars exit in the offseason and their coach and general manager leave last month. They hope to make the playoffs after all those changes but have some work to do if they’re going to make it happen. Interim coach and general manager Emre Vatansever says “it’s time to turn it around.” The Sky are tied for eighth with the Los Angeles Sparks at 12-18 and are 5-9 since Vatansever took over. They’ve lost three straight after winning three in a row. They have 10 games remaining as they try to make the playoffs for the fifth year in a row.
NCAAFB – Auburn’s Freeze names Michigan State transfer Payton Thorne starting QB
Transfer Payton Thorne has won Auburn’s starting quarterback job. Coach Hugh Freeze says the Michigan State transfer is set to start for the Tigers in their opener Sept. 2 against Massachusetts. Thorne signed with Auburn in May. He has been competing with returning starter Robby Ashford and redshirt freshman Holden Geriner. Freeze and Thorne are trying to improve a passing game that ranked 119th in yards per game last season, averaging just 173. Inconsistent quarterback play has plagued Auburn in recent seasons. It has contributed to the Tigers’ sixth place finishes in the Southeastern Conference Western Division the past two years.
NCAA – Stanford holds out hope for ACC invite, Oregon State and Washington State wait
Stanford has not given up on getting an invitation to join the Atlantic Coast Conference as its fellow Pac-4 members wait and hope to rebuild their plundered league. Leaders from Stanford, California, Oregon State and Washington State spoke Thursday and Stanford told its colleagues it had informed the ACC that it would be open to joining the conference at greatly reduced or even no media rights payout for several years, a person familiar with the discussions told AP. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the schools’ were not making their internal discussions public.
NCAA – Former Northwestern athletes send letter defending school’s athletic culture
Approximately 1,000 former Northwestern University athletes have sent a letter condemning hazing while defending the school’s culture. The Associated Press obtained the letter Thursday. The athletes say allegations of abuse within the football program and other men’s and women’s teams do not reflect their experiences. They say they “strongly condemn hazing" and that the allegations are “troubling" but "do not represent or define the overall athletics culture at Northwestern.” Northwestern is facing more than a dozen lawsuits across multiple sports with allegations including sexual abuse of players by teammates as well as racist comments by coaches and race-based assaults.
NHL – Blackhawks leader Toews says he’s stepping away for health — but not retiring
Former Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews says in an Instagram post that he is stepping away from hockey to get healthy after playing in just 53 games last season. But he stresses he’s not retiring. Toews is a free agent after 16 years in Chicago. He missed all of the 2020-21 season and part of last year with symptoms of long COVID and chronic immune response syndrome. Toews is a three-time Stanley Cup champion who in 2018 was named one of the 100 greatest players in NHL history.
Golf – PGA – McIlroy, Harman share BMW Championship lead on a soft Olympia Fields
Rory McIlroy and Brian Harman share the lead at the BMW Championship at rain-soaked Olympia Fields. McIlroy is using that to his advantage. He blasted away off the tee because he realized the rough wasn’t necessarily the worst place to be. The greens are so soft it was at times easier to hit into them without spin. He also had a little magic on the 17th hole by going through trees and over a bunker and chipping in for birdie. Harman made two long birdies at the end. That includes a chip-in. Scottie Scheffler and Rickie Fowler were one back.
MWL – Midwest League Baseball
Last Night
West Michigan 3, South Bend 2
Great Lakes 5, Lansing 3
Tonight
South Bend Cubs at West Michigan Whitecaps, 6:35 p.m.
Great Lakes Loons at Lansing Lugnuts, 7:05
MHSAA – High School Sports
Last Night
Boys Soccer
Bridgman 5, Brandywine 3
Howardsville Christian 6, Berrien Springs 1
Otsego 1, Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg 1 – TIE
Hillsdale Academy 4, Kalamazoo Hackett 2
Today
Boys Soccer
St. Joseph at Hudsonville Unity Christian, 3:30 p.m. at Unity Christian Tri
St. Joseph vs. Hudsonville, 5:00 p.m. at Unity Christian Tri
Kalamazoo Heritage at Michigan Lutheran, 5:00 p.m.
Bangor at New Buffalo, 6:00 p.m.
Bronson at Niles, 6:00 p.m.
Constantine at Three Rivers, 5:00 p.m.
Volleyball
Niles, Battle Creek Lakeview, Schoolcraft at Gull Lake, 9:00 a.m.
Girls Golf
Battle Creek Lakeview invitational, 8:00 a.m.
St. Joseph, Lakeshore, Niles, Battle Creek Lakeview, Portage Central, Kalamazoo Central, Kalamazoo Christian, Portage Northern, Coldwater, Mattawan, Plainwell, Gull Lake
Cross Country
Portage Central Early Bird Meet, 8:30 a.m.
St. Joseph, Lakeshore, Portage Central, Parchment, Kalamazoo Christian, Kalamazoo Central, Battle Creek Lakeview, Gobles, Hastings, Mattawan, Kalamazoo Home School, Three Rivers, Buchanan, Lowell, Rockford, Allendale, Hudsonville, Jenison, Northview.
