Weekday Morning Sports Report – Wednesday 6/20/18

MLB – Major League Baseball
Yesterday
Cincinnati Reds 9, Detroit Tigers 5
Cleveland Indians 6, Chicago White Sox 3
L.A. Dodgers 4, Chicago Cubs 3 – Game 1
Chicago Cubs 2, Los Angeles Dodgers 1 – 10 Innings – Game 2

Reds 9, Tigers 5 – Votto breaks drought with grand slam as Reds beat Tigers 9-5
Joey Votto ended a long homer drought with his third career grand slam Tuesday night, powering the Cincinnati Reds to a 9-5 victory that ended the Detroit Tigers’ longest winning streak in two years. Sal Romano (4-7) had a second straight solid outing, limiting the Tigers to four singles over seven shutout innings. Billy Hamilton also homered as the Reds pulled away to a 9-0 lead. The Tigers had won five straight and moved within a game of .500. They haven’t been to the break-even mark since they were a season-best 4-4 on April 8. They’ve wasted five chances to get back. Trailing 9-0, Detroit finally broke through in the ninth when Wandy Peralta walked home a run and Leonys Martin followed with a double. The Reds loaded the bases in the third with the help of a pair of walks from Matthew Boyd (4-5). Votto hit a high fly to right field that had just enough _ Nicholas Castellanos stretched his glove over the top of the wall and barely missed the ball. Votto’s first homer since May 13 ended a 30-game drought. His last homer at Great American Ball Park was May 6. Votto hit 36 homers last season, one shy of his career high. He has only seven this season.

Indians 6, White Sox 3 – Clevinger strikes out 10 as Indians beat White Sox 6-3
Mike Clevinger struck out 10 and allowed one run in 7 2/3 innings, and Cleveland beat the Chicago White Sox 6-3 on Tuesday night. Clevinger (6-2) beat Chicago for the third time this season and was in command after giving up a first-inning run. He retired 13 straight between the second and sixth while allowing five hits.  Clevinger struck out a career-high 11 against the White Sox last week. This time, he was pulled after two walks in the eighth. He has held Chicago to three earned runs in 21 1/3 innings over three starts.  Carlos Rodon (0-2) allowed four runs in 6 1/3 innings. The left-hander made his third start of the season after having shoulder surgery in August.  The White Sox lost their sixth straight and dropped a season-high 24 games under .500. Chicago is 11-23 against the AL Central.

Dodgers 4, Cubs 3 – Game 1 – Farmer PH double lifts Dodgers over Cubs in 1st game of DH
Pinch-hitter Kyle Farmer doubled sharply down the left-field line with two outs in the ninth to drive in two runs, and the Los Angeles Dodgers came back to edge the Chicago Cubs 4-3 on Tuesday in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.  Farmer lined a 2-2 pitch from Justin Wilson into the corner after Wilson had walked pinch-hitter Austin Barnes and Justin Turner singled. Entering the game, Farmer was hitting .226, but was 5 for 15 as a pinch-hitter.  Joc Pederson led off the game with solo shot and Yasiel Puig drove in a run with a bloop double in a rematch of the last two NL Championship Series.  Kris Bryant doubled twice and drove in two runs. Anthony Rizzo added an RBI single for Chicago.  Edward Paredes (2-0), the fifth of six Dodgers relievers, got one out in the eighth to earn the win. Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his 18th save.  Wilson (1-2) came one pitch away from earning his first save.

Cubs 2, Dodgers 1 – F/10 – Game 2 – Cubs beat Dodgers 2-1 in 10 innings for doubleheader split
Albert Almora Jr. hit a game-ending RBI single in the 10th inning, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 on Tuesday night to salvage a split of their day-night doubleheader. Kris Bryant sparked the winning rally with a leadoff triple against Brock Stewart (0-1). After Javier Baez was walked intentionally, Almora hit a liner into right field. Rob Zastryzny (1-0), the fifth Cubs reliever, got Yasmani Grandal to fly out with the bases loaded in the top of the 10th to earn the win. Los Angeles opened the doubleheader with a 4-3 victory on pinch-hitter Kyle Farmer’s two-run double in the ninth.

Today
Detroit (Fulmer 3-5) at Cincinnati (Mahle 5-6), 12:35 p.m.          WSJM Sports/Cosy-FM 12:10
Chicago White Sox (Lopez 2-4) at Cleveland (Kluber 10-3), 1:10 p.m.
L.A. Dodgers (Stripling 6-1) at Chicago Cubs (Lester 8-2), 2:20 p.m.

FIFA – World Cup 2018
Yesterday
Japan 2, Columbia 1
Senegal 2, Poland 1
Russia 3, Egypt 1

Tuesday Roundup
Japan made World Cup history on Tuesday, while Russia moved to the brink of advancing to the knockout stage. The Japanese beat Colombia, 2-1 to become the first Asian team to beat a South American squad in the tournament. Colombia was reduced to 10 men early when midfielder Carlos Sanchez received a red card for handling a goal-bound shot in the third minute. The Russians scored three times in 15 minutes early in the second half to earn a 3-1 victory over Egypt. The host country could celebrate a spot in the round of 16 as early as Wednesday if Uruguay wins or draws against Saudi Arabia.  In Tuesday’s other World Cup match, Senegal took a first-half lead on an own goal and held off Poland, 2-1.

Today
Portugal vs. Morocco, 8:00 a.m.
Uruguay vs. Saudi Arabia, 11:00 a.m.
Iran vs. Spain, 2:00 p.m.

NCAAFB – Irish LB Coney pleads guilty to marijuana possession
Notre Dame senior middle linebacker Te’von Coney has pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana and been given a year of probation for an incident that happened nearly two years ago. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Wayne Steele accepted a plea deal and put Coney on probation from 363 days. An Aug. 1 trial date had been set. Coney, who is from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, is expected to start for the Fighting Irish after leading the team in tackles (116) and tackles for loss (13) last season.  Coney was one of five players arrested August 2016 after an Indiana State Police trooper made a traffic stop for speeding and discovered marijuana and an unregistered handgun in the car.

WNBA – Women’s National Basketball Association
Last Night
Washington Mystics 88, Chicago Sky 60
Los Angeles Sparks 74, Indiana Fever 55

Mystics 88, Sky 60 – Mystics beat Sky 88-60
Kristi Toliver had 19 points and eight assists to help the Washington Mystics beat the Chicago Sky 88-60.  Cheyenne Parker had 18 points and Kahleah Copper scored 13 for the Sky (3-8), who lost their fifth in a row.

Sparks 74, Fever 55 – Sparks win 5th straight, beat Fever 74-55
Candace Parker scored 15 and the Los Angeles Sparks used their defense to win their fifth straight, 74-55 over the Indiana Fever. Natalie Achonwa had 13 points and Tiffany Mitchell scored 10 for the Fever (1-11), who were coming in off their first win of the season.

MWL – Midwest League Baseball
Yesterday
2018 Midwest League All Star Game at Lansing
East Division 3, West Division 2 – 10 Innings

East 3, West 2 – F/10 – East wins 3-2 at 2018 Midwest League All Star Game
Dayton’s Montrell Marshall’s RBI single to right center field scored his Dayton teammate Stuart Fairchild from 2nd giving the East Divison a 3-2 win in the 2018 Midwest League All Star Game at Lansing.   Marshall was named the MVP of the game.   Jared Walker from Great Lakes hit a two run home run in the 5th inning for the East squad. 

Tonight
No games today