Tigers blanked on Opening Day; Cubs and Sox win season debuts – Friday Morning Sports Update

morning-sports-2023-07-17-2

MLB – Major League Baseball – Opening Day 2023
Yesterday
Tampa Bay Rays 4, Detroit Tigers 0
Chicago Cubs 4, Milwaukee Brewers 0
Chicago White Sox 3, Houston Astros 2

Rays 4, Tigers 0 – McClanahan sharp, Rays blank Tigers 4-0 on opening day
Shane McClanahan pitched six sharp innings, Jose Siri and Wander Franco homered and the Tampa Bay Rays opened their silver anniversary season with a 4-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers. Randy Arozarena and Luke Raley also drove in runs charged to Eduardo Rodriguez. McClanahan gave up four hits in his second opening day start.  Miguel Cabrera, beginning what he has said will be his last season, had one of Detroit’s six hits — a seventh-inning double — that moved him into a tie with Ichiro Suzuki for 23rd on the all-time hit list with 3,089.

Cubs 4, Brewers 0 – Swanson, Stroman help Cubs beat Brewers 4-0 on opening day
Dansby Swanson had three hits in his Chicago Cubs debut and Marcus Stroman worked six scoreless innings, breezing past baseball’s first pitch-clock violation on his way to a 4-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on opening day. Swanson’s first hit with his new team was an RBI single that sparked a four-run third. He tacked on two more singles and played his usual solid defense at shortstop. Swanson signed a $177 million, seven-year contract with Chicago in free agency, leaving Atlanta after seven seasons. Milwaukee was limited to singles for rookie Brice Turang, Willy Adames, Brian Anderson and William Contreras.

White Sox 3, Astros 2 – Vaughn’s double lifts White Sox over Astros 3-2 in opener
Andrew Vaughn’s tiebreaking, two-run double in the ninth inning lifted the Chicago White Sox to a 3-2 win over the defending World Series champion Houston Astros in their season opener. The game was tied 1-all after a homer by Chicago’s Yasmani Grandal in the eighth. Ryan Pressly walked Tim Anderson with one out in the ninth before a single by Luis Robert Jr. Vaughn then belted a double to center field that put the White Sox on top. Pedro Grifol got the win in his managerial debut after spending the last 10 seasons as a coach in the Royals organization. It snapped a streak of 10 straight wins for the Astros in openers.

Tonight
Chicago White Sox (Lynn 0-0) at Houston (Javier 0-0), 8:10 p.m.
Tigers and Cubs are off

Saturday
White Sox at Houston, 2:10 p.m.
Milwaukee at Cubs, 2:20 p.m.
Tigers at Tampa Bay, 4:10 p.m.  WSJM 3:45

Sunday
Tigers at Tampa Bay, 1:10 p.m.  WSJM 12:45
White Sox at Houston, 2:10 p.m.
Milwaukee at Cubs, 2:20 p.m.

MLB – Cubs’ Marcus Stroman commits MLB’s 1st pitch-clock violation
Chicago Cubs right-hander Marcus Stroman committed Major League Baseball’s first pitch-clock violation in the third inning of Thursday’s opening day game against the Milwaukee Brewers. With no outs, rookie Brice Turang on second base and Christian Yelich at the plate, plate umpire Ron Kulpa called the violation on Stroman at Wrigley Field. Kulpa pointed to his wrist in announcing the call, and the automatic ball made it a 2-2 count against Yelich. Cubs-Brewers was the fourth of 15 opening day games to begin Thursday. Several more violations followed on the first day of regular season games since MLB introduced a slate of rules changes this season.

MLB – Nico Hoerner looking forward to long-term future with Cubs
Nico Hoerner is looking forward to his future with the Chicago Cubs after finalizing a $35 million, three-year contract. The deal begins with the 2024 season, covering his last two years of arbitration and the first year that he would have been eligible for free agency. Hoerner, who turns 26 in May, was selected by the Cubs in the first round of the 2018 amateur draft out of Stanford. Making his first public comments since the contract was completed, Hoerner says, “This is where I want to be.” He singled, scored and committed a throwing error in a 4-0 victory over Milwaukee on opening day.

NCAAMBKB – Men’s College Basketball – Final Four
Saturday
NCAA Tournament – Final Four – NRG Stadium, Houston
9 Florida Atlantic vs. 5 San Diego State, 6:09 p.m.
5 Miami vs. 4 UConn, 8:49 p.m.

NCAAWBKB – Women’s College Basketball – Final Four
Tonight
NCAA Tournament – Final Four – American Airlines Center, Dallas
3 LSU vs. 1 Virginia Tech, 7:00 p.m.
2 Iowa vs. 1 South Carolina, 9:00 p.m.

NHL – National Hockey League
Last Night
Detroit Red Wings 3, Carolina Hurricanes 2
St. Louis Blues 5, Chicago Blackhawks 3

Red Wings 3, Hurricanes 2 – Jake Walman scores late goal, Red Wings beat Hurricanes 3-2
Defenseman Jake Walman scored with 3.2 seconds left to give the Detroit Red Wings a 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night. Dominik Kubalik and captain Dylan Larkin also scored for the Red Wings and Alex Nedeljkovic made 31 saves to beat his former team. Kubalik scored 59 second into the game and Larkin connected on a power play at 7:26 of the second. Larkin extended his team leads in goals with 28 and power-play goals with 15. Carolina defense partners Brent Burns and Jaccob Slavin scored 3:36 apart in the second — at 42 seconds and 4:18.

Blues 5, Blackhawks 3 – Blues win 5-3 to hand Blackhawks 7th straight defeat
Logan Brown and Alexey Toropchenko scored 38 seconds apart in the second period, and the St. Louis Blues beat the skidding Chicago Blackhawks 5-3. Jakub Vrana, Jordan Kyrou and Brandon Saad also scored for St. Louis. Justin Faulk had two assists. The Blues, still clinging to faint playoff hopes, have won two straight and three of four. It was the seventh consecutive loss for the Blackhawks, who dropped into a tie with Columbus for last place in the overall NHL standings with 54 points each. Andreas Athanasiou, Tyler Johnson and Boris Katchouk scored for Chicago.

Tonight
Detroit Red Wings at Winnipeg Jets, 8:00 p.m.

Saturday
New Jersey at Chicago, 8:00 p.m.

Sunday
Detroit at Toronto, 7:00 p.m.

NBA – National Basketball Association
Tonight
Chicago Bulls at Charlotte Hornets, 7:00 p.m.
Oklahoma City Thunder at Indiana Pacers, 7:00 p.m.
Detroit Pistons at Houston Rockets, 8:00 p.m.

Sunday
Memphis at Chicago, 3:30 p.m.
Detroit at Orlando, 6:00 p.m.
Indiana at Cleveland, 8:00 p.m.

Track and Field – Lawyer: Steenkamp’s parents to oppose parole for Pistorius
A lawyer representing the parents of the woman Oscar Pistorius shot dead 10 years ago says they will oppose the former Olympic runner’s application for parole. Lawyer Tania Koen said ahead of a parole hearing for Pistorius scheduled for Friday that “unless he comes clean, they don’t feel that he is rehabilitated.” Pistorius is a multiple Paralympic champion who made history by running against able-bodied athletes at the 2012 Olympics. He was convicted of murder for the Valentine’s Day 2013 shooting of Reeva Steenkamp at his home. Pistorius claims he shot Steenkamp by mistake, thinking she was an intruder. He is eligible for parole after having served half of his sentence.

IndyCar – 500 winner Ericsson intends to stay in IndyCar title picture
In the days leading up to the IndyCar season-opening race, Chip Ganassi made clear that Marcus Ericsson was a valued member of the organization and said he wants to extend the Swedish driver’s contract beyond this year. Ericsson then went on to win the March 5 race on the downtown streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, with a late pass of Pato O’Ward to pick up the fourth win of his IndyCar career. He heads into Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway as the points leader and determined to be a serious championship contender this season.

NCAAFB – College Football – Spring Games
Saturday
University of Michigan Spring Game, 3:00 p.m.          TV: BTN

AHL – American Hockey League
Tonight
Milwaukee Admirals at Grand Rapids Griffins, 7:00 p.m.

ECHL – ECHL Hockey League
Tonight
Fort Wayne Komets at Kalamazoo Wings, 7:00 p.m.

MCCAA – Junior College Athletics
Yesterday
Baseball
Kellogg Community College 11, Lake Michigan College 1 – 6 Innings

Today
Softball
Lake Michigan College at Kalamazoo Valley C.C., 3:00 p.m./5:00 p.m. (DH)

MHSAA – East Grand Rapids’ Macy Brown wins Michigan AP D1 POY award
East Grand Rapids basketball standout Macy Brown has been named the Michigan Associated Press Division 1 Player of the Year. The future Michigan Wolverine becomes the second member of her family to win the honor, joining sister, Jillian, who achieved the feat in 2021. The 6-foot Brown led her team with 25 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.1 steals per game this season for a team that went 15-9.

MHSAA – High School Sports
Last Night
Girls Soccer
St. Joseph 4, Edwardsburg 0

  • St. Joseph started the season with a 4-0 shutout win at Edwardsburg.  Jade Murdoch and Eleah Hedstrom each had a pair of goals for St. Joe.  Myla Kotarba assisted on the first two Bears markers and Keira Page-Wood assisted on the other.  Clara Berry had the clean sheet in goal in the victory.

Watervliet at Berrien Springs, Cancelled

Girls Tennis
St. Joseph 8, Sturgis 0

Singles
1. Lanie Smith (SJ) defeated Sturgis 6-6 (7-5), 6-2
2. Ellie Fischer (SJ) defeated Sturgis 6-1, 6-0
3. Chloe Cluff (SJ) defeated Sturgis 6-0, 6-0
4. Reilie Netzley (SJ) defeated Sturgis 7-5, 6-3
Doubles
1. Ceci Ruchti & Grace Yuan (SJ) defeated Sturgis 6-0, 6-0
2. Grace Rommel & Mia Wurster (SJ) defeated Sturgis 6-2, 6-3
3. Kaley Schlipp & Madison Werk-Spitzer (SJ) defeated Sturgis 6-10, 6-1
4. Leontine Buonto & Maddie Ugalde defeated Sturgis 6-0, 6-4

Baseball
Buchanan 16, Coloma 1 – Game 1
Buchanan 8, Coloma 1 – Game 2 Suspended, darkness
Lawrence 15, Eau Claire 0
Berrien Springs 12, River Valley 2 – Game 1
Berrien Springs 6, River Valley 2 – Game 2
Brandywine 7, New Buffalo 0
Paw Paw 7, Hartford 0 – Game 1
Paw Paw 11, Hartford 0 – Game 2

Softball
Buchanan at Coloma, Cancelled
Lawrence 14, Eau Claire 7 (5 Innings)
Paw Paw 10, Hartford 0
Bloomingdale 17, Fennville 0

Boys Golf
St. Joseph 172, Edwardsburg 205

Today
Girls Soccer
Buchanan at Our Lady of the Lake, 5:00 p.m.

Baseball
Watervliet at Berrien Springs, 4:15 p.m.

Softball
Watervliet at Berrien Springs, 4:15 p.m.

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco forces Detroit Tigers’ Javier Baez (28) at second base on a fielder’s choice by Riley Greene during the first inning of a baseball game Thursday, March 30, 2023, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)Chicago Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner celebrates with Cubs’ Miles Mastrobuoni after scoring on a single by Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson during the third inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers Thursday, March 30, 2023, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)Chicago White Sox’s Andrew Vaughn hits a two-run double off Houston Astros relief pitcher Ryan Pressly during the ninth inning of a baseball game Thursday, March 30, 2023, in Houston. (AP Photo/Kevin M. Cox)Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin (71) celebrates his goal against the Carolina Hurricanes in the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 30, 2023, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)St. Louis Blues left wing Brandon Saad (20) controls the puck as he looks to pass during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Chicago Blackhawks in Chicago, Thursday, March 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

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