Weekday Morning Sports – 10/6/14

sportsreport

Sports Radio 1400 WSJM     @wsjmsports      wsjmsports.com     Monday, October 06, 2014

MLB – Major League Baseball – Division Series (Best of 5)
Last Night
Baltimore Orioles 2, Detroit Tigers 1                               (Orioles Win Series 3-0)
Kansas City Royals 8, Los Angeles Angels 3                      (Royals Win Series 3-0)

Orioles 2, Tigers 1 – Orioles sweep Tigers in ALDS with 2-1 victory
Nelson Cruz sliced a two-run homer for his latest big postseason hit, and the Baltimore Orioles swept aside Detroit’s Cy Young Award winners to hold off the Tigers 2-1 Sunday and reach the AL Championship Series for the first time since 1997. Bud Norris outpitched David Price in Game 3 of the AL Division Series. The Tigers scored in the ninth and put the tying run on second with no outs, but Orioles closer Zach Britton escaped the jam and lifted Buck Showalter into his first ALCS in 16 seasons as a big league manager. Cruz’s homer was the 16th of his postseason career, including eight against the Tigers. He was the MVP of the 2011 ALCS for Texas in a six-game victory over Detroit. Cruz spent much of this past offseason without a team after serving a 50-game suspension last year for violating baseball’s drug agreement.

Tonight
Washington (Fister 16-6) at San Francisco (Bumgarner 18-10), 5:07 p.m.        (SF Leads 2-0)
L.A. Dodgers (Ryu 14-7) at St. Louis (Lackey 3-3), 9:07 p.m.                           (Series tied 1-1)

NFL – National Football League – Week 5
Yesterday
Buffalo Bills 17, Detroit Lions 14
Carolina Panthers 31, Chicago Bears 24

Other Scores
Cleveland 29, Tennessee 28
New Orleans 37, Tampa Bay 31, OT
Dallas 20, Houston 17, OT
Philadelphia 34, St. Louis 28
N.Y. Giants 30, Atlanta 20
Indianapolis 20, Baltimore 13
Pittsburgh 17, Jacksonville 9
Denver 41, Arizona 20
San Francisco 22, Kansas City 17
San Diego 31, N.Y. Jets 0
New England 43, Cincinnati 17

Bills 17, Lions 14 – Bills beat Lions on 58-yard field goal
Dan Carpenter hit a 58-yard field goal with 4 seconds remaining to cap the Buffalo Bills come-from-behind 17-14 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday. Kyle Orton, making his debut as the Bills starter, set up the decisive kick by completing a 20-yard pass over the middle to Sammy Watkins as Buffalo (3-2) overcame a 14-0 deficit. It was the eighth game that Orton has won in overtime or when trailing in the fourth quarter. Orton went 30 of 43 for 308 yards with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Chris Gragg.  The Lions (3-2) were undone by kicker Alex Henery missing all three field-goal attempts, including a 50-yarder wide left with 21 seconds left. Receiver Calvin Johnson and running back Reggie Bush both injured ankles in the loss.  Benton Harbor’s Joique Bell was inactive for the game because of a concussion suffered in the last week.

Panthers 31, Bears 24 – Newton, Olsen lift Panthers over Bears 31-24
Cam Newton threw two touchdown passes to Greg Olsen and the Carolina Panthers’ defense forced four turnovers to overcome a 14-point deficit and defeat the Chicago Bears 31-24 on Sunday. With the game tied at 24, Carolina’s Antoine Cason stripped Matt Forte of the ball and the Panthers’ Kawaan Short recovered at Chicago’s 23. Six plays later, Newton found Olsen on a slant route for a 6-yard touchdown for the go-ahead score with 2:18 left. Newton was 19 of 35 for 255 yards with two touchdown passes and one interception. Olsen had six catches for 72 yards. Cutler was 28 of 36 for 289 yards with two TDs, but turned the ball over three times for the Bears.

Tonight
Seattle at Washington, 8:30 p.m.

NFL – Bills allege laser shined at players in Detroit
Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone says the team filed a complaint to NFL security officials alleging someone shined a laser pointer from the stands at his players during their game at Detroit on Sunday. Marrone says quarterback Kyle Orton and holder Colton Schmidt informed him during the game they both had lasers shined at them. The team then followed league protocol by informing NFL security staff. Marrone said the issue was eventually resolved before the game ended.  Buffalo beat the Lions 17-14 on Dan Carpenter’s 58-yard field goal with 4 seconds left. NFL spokesman Michael Signora said the league does not have any specific information on what happened because it has not yet received a report for its security representative in Detroit.  The Lions had no immediate comment.

NCAA Football – Top 25 – FSU remains No. 1
Mississippi and Mississippi State are tied for third in the new Associated Press college football poll. The top team remains Florida State, with Auburn No. 2. Baylor completes the top-5. The Florida State Seminoles received 35 first-place votes while Auburn got 23 and Mississippi State two.

AP TOP 25

1 Florida State (35) 5-0
2 Auburn (23) 5-0
3 Mississippi State (2) 5-0
3 Ole Miss 5-0
5 Baylor 5-0
6 Notre Dame 5-0
7 Alabama 4-1
8 Michigan State 4-1
9 TCU 4-0
10 Arizona 5-0
11 Oklahoma 4-1
12 Oregon 4-1
13 Georgia 4-1
14 Texas A&M 5-1
15 Ohio State 4-1
16 Oklahoma State 4-1
17 Kansas State 4-1
18 UCLA 4-1
19 East Carolina 4-1
20 Arizona State 4-1
21 Nebraska 5-1
22 Georgia Tech 5-0
23 Missouri 4-1
24 Utah 4-1
25 Stanford 3-2

NCAA Football – No. 6 Irish defense frustrating opponents
The Notre Dame defense has produced the “teeth-gnashing” moments that coach Brian Kelly predicted before the season. So far, though, it’s been the opposing teams clenching their jaws in frustration. The Fighting Irish defense shut down Stanford’s offense for most of the game in a 17-14 victory Saturday, holding the Cardinal to 205 yards of total offense. That’s the fewest yards in a game by the Cardinal since TCU held them to 193 yards in 2008. The sixth-ranked Irish (5-0) are putting up numbers comparable to two seasons ago, when the Irish defense carried the team to an undefeated regular season and the national title game. The Irish are giving up 12 points a game, third best in the country and the same average the Irish had five games into the season two years ago. Coach Brian Kelly predicted before the season the defense would cause consternation because players were so young and inexperienced. He said Sunday that he’s not surprised by how well they’ve played, but conceded he’s particularly pleased with the run defense.

NASCAR – Logano wins while other contenders struggle
Joey Logano has grabbed the first berth into the next round of NASCAR’s championship chase with a victory Sunday at Kansas Speedway.  Logano’s win advanced him into the third round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, which begins after stops at Charlotte and Talladega. Four drivers will be cut from the 12-driver field after Talladega. It was Logano’s career-best fifth win of the season and ties with him Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski for most in the Sprint Cup Series this year. Kyle Larson was second, followed by Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Carl Edwards. It was a tough day for a couple of Sprint Cup contenders. Jimmie Johnson finished 40th after he was hit by Greg Biffle just 85 laps into the race. Brad Keselowski (kehs-LOWS’-kee) had tire trouble that led him to slam into the wall and finish 36th. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was leading when a flat tire caused him to hit the wall. He finished 39th after leading 45 laps into the race.

MHSAA – High School Sports
Today
Boys Soccer
Hartford at Bridgman, 5:00 p.m.
Brandywine at Niles, 6:30 p.m.

Girls Golf
Lake Michigan Catholic at Dowagiac, 4:00 p.m.  (at Indian Hills Golf Course)

Wolverine Conference – Tournament Round 2
Championship Round
Edwardsburg at Plainwell
Sturgis at Paw Paw

Consolation Matches
Dowagiac at Otsego
Allegan at South Haven
Berrien Springs at Three Rivers
Coloma at Vicksburg

Girls Volleyball
Muskegon Heights at Benton Harbor, 5:30 p.m.