95.7 & 1400 WSJM Sports @wsjmsports wsjmsports.com Thursday, June 09, 2016
MLB – Major League Baseball
Last Night
Toronto Blue Jays 7, Detroit Tigers 2
Washington Nationals 11, Chicago White Sox 4
Chicago Cubs 8, Philadelphia Phillies 1
Blue Jays 7, Tigers 2 – Donaldson’s homer and triple lead Jays past Tigers 7-2
Josh Donaldson had three hits, including a three-run homer and a triple, and R.A. Dickey won consecutive starts for the first time since last summer, helping the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers 7-2 Wednesday to avoid a three-game sweep. Justin Smoak hit a two-run homer and Kevin Pillar added a two-run triple as Toronto stopped Detroit’s five-game winning streak. Dickey (4-6) allowed two runs and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings. Combined with Friday’s victory at Boston, he won back-to-back outings for the first time since Aug. 28 against Detroit and Sept. 2 versus Cleveland. Jordan Zimmermann (8-3) gave up seven runs and eight hits in 4 2-3 innings _ including two triples and two homers. He has allowed seven or more runs twice in his last four outings, and his ERA has risen to 3.30 from 1.10 on May 6.
Nationals 11, White Sox 4 – Boos rain down on White Sox as Nats win at Chicago, 11-4
The first hint of boos came after James Shields walked the game’s second batter. They gained intensity after each of the three home runs and reached their peak after he was yanked in the third inning. The Chicago White Sox’s big addition couldn’t stop their stunning slide. Ryan Zimmerman hit a two-run homer in the first to set the tone in Shields’ miserable White Sox debut, Max Scherzer threw seven scoreless innings and the Washington Nationals routed reeling Chicago 11-4 Wednesday night. Zimmerman’s homer in a four-run first inning was followed by consecutive shots by Stephen Drew and Danny Espinosa to lead off the second. Everyone in the Nationals lineup reached base safely at least once in two-plus innings off Shields (2-8), who couldn’t command his fastball, he gave up seven runs and eight hits in his first start since being traded from San Diego.
Cubs 8, Phillies 1 – Lackey goes 7 strong, Cubs beat Phillies 8-1
John Lackey struck out eight in seven dominant innings, Kris Bryant and Ben Zobrist hit homers and the Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies 8-1 on Wednesday. Lackey (7-2) gave up three hits and extended his scoreless streak to 13 2/3 innings. Phillies starter Vince Velasquez left the game after getting one out because of right biceps soreness. Velasquez threw two pitches and quickly left the mound when a trainer came out. Brett Oberholtzer (2-1) replaced him and allowed one unearned run following his throwing error in four innings. Bryant hit his 14th homer off Andrew Bailey in the sixth, a two-run shot out to left. Zobrist connected one out later to make it 4-0.
Tonight
Washington (Gonzalez 3-4) at Chicago White Sox (Gonzalez 0-1), 8:10 p.m.
MLB – Ackerman, former sportscaster behind `Bless You Boys,’ dies
Al Ackerman, a former TV sportscaster who coined the rally cry “Bless You Boys” for the Detroit Tigers leading up to the team’s 1984 World Series win, has died. He was 90. Family member Philip Handleman says Ackerman died Monday of natural causes at his home in Florida. He says a private service has been held. Ackerman worked for stations including WDIV and WXYZ during a 25-year career in Detroit from the 1960s to the 1980s. In 1997, he was inducted into the Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, a recognition his family says was among his greatest honors. Handleman described Ackerman as a “Renaissance man” who loved classical music, appreciated literature and was interested in public affairs. Survivors include Ackerman’s wife, Terese Ann; two daughters; a sister-in-law; and grandchildren.
Some trying to sell free Ali memorial tickets
Some people are trying to cash in on the free tickets they’ve obtained to the Muhammad Ali memorial service planned for Friday in Louisville. Thousands of tickets for the service were claimed on a first-come, first-served basis in about an hour. Some ticket holders immediately sought to profit from the tickets by going online to sell theirs. Ali family spokesman Bob Gunnell denounced the profiteering, saying Ali wanted the free event to be open to all.
NBA – 2016 NBA Finals (Best of 7)
Last Night – Game 3
Cleveland Cavaliers 120, Golden State Warriors 90 (GSW leads 2-1)
Cavaliers 120, Warriors 90 – Cavs crush Warriors
LeBron James poured in 32 points and Kyrie Irving added 30 as the Cleveland Cavaliers ripped Golden State 120-90 to get within two games to one in the NBA Finals. The Cavaliers burst out to a 30-10 lead in the first quarter, with Irving scoring 16 points on 7 of 9 shooting in the period. The Cavs limited Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green to a combined 35 points on 12-for 34 shooting. The Cavaliers were without forward Kevin Love in game 3. Love suffered a concussion in Game 2 and was not cleared by doctors after taking part in the team’s morning shoot-around.
NHL – 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Finals (Best of 7)
Tonight – Game 5
San Jose Sharks at Pittsburgh Penguins, 8:00 p.m. (PIT leads 3-1)
NFL – Bears offensive lineman Ramirez retiring
Chicago Bears offensive lineman Manny Ramirez is retiring. The Bears placed Ramirez on the reserve/retired list Wednesday. He signed with Chicago in March after 83 games with 65 starts over eight seasons with the Detroit Lions and the Denver Broncos.
Tennis – Sharapova given two-year ban
Barring a successful appeal, you won’t see Maria Sharapova compete in another tennis tournament until January 2018. The five-time major champion has been suspended from competition by the International Tennis Federation after testing positive for meldonium at the Australian Open. The ban is retroactive to her positive test following a quarterfinal loss to Serena Williams. The ruling by an independent three-person panel appointed says Sharapova did not intend to cheat because she didn’t know meldonium was banned. But, she bears “sole responsibility” for the positive test. She was provisionally suspended by the ITF in early March, when she announced that she failed a doping test in January. The five-time Grand Slam champion immediately said she will appeal to sport’s highest court.
Horse Racing – Exaggerator is Belmont favorite
Preakness winner Exaggerator has been made the 9-5 favorite in a field of 13 for Saturday’s Belmont Stakes. The 3-year-old colt trained and ridden by the Desormeaux (deh-SOHR’-moh) brothers has drawn the No. 11 post position. Stradivari is the surprising second choice at 5-1. He ran fourth in the Preakness in his stakes debut. Destin is third choice at 6-1.
NCAA Basketball – NCAA basketball attendance declines slightly in 2015-16
The NCAA says attendance at men’s college basketball games declined slightly last season. Total attendance in all three NCAA divisions was 32,382,283, the 10th-highest total in history. The per-game average dropped by 25 from 2014-15. Fewer fans also attended Division I games, dropping to 27,234,610. And though the NCAA Tournament attracted 703,854 fans, it was well off the tourney record of 800,377 from 2012-13. The Big Ten Conference drew the highest number of fans, with slightly more than 3.1 million attending games and 11 of 14 schools averaged more than 10,000 per game. Kentucky’s average crowd of 23,361 was the nation’s highest, dethroning reigning two-time champion Syracuse. Kentucky and Syracuse were followed by Louisville and North Carolina. Maryland had the largest average increase at 5,169 per game.
MWL – Midwest League Baseball
Yesterday
Dayton 6, South Bend 4
Great Lakes 6, West Michigan 2
Lake County 14, Lansing 12
Tonight
Great Lakes at West Michigan, 7:00 p.m.
Lansing at Lake County, 7:00 p.m.
Dayton at South Bend, 7:05 p.m.
MHSAA – High School Sports
Today
Soccer Regionals
Division 2 at Eaton Rapids
Dexter vs. Gull Lake, 7:00 p.m.
