Weekday Morning Sports – Tuesday 8/4/15

sportsreport

Sports Radio 1400 WSJM     @wsjmsports     wsjmsports.com     Tuesday, August 04, 2015

MLB – Major League Baseball
Last Night
Tampa Bay Rays 5, Chicago White Sox 4
Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh Pirates, PPD, Rain
Tigers were off

Rays 5, White Sox 4 – Mahtook single in 9th lifts Rays to 5-4 win over White Sox
Mikie Mahtook singled with two outs in the top of the ninth inning to drive in Logan Forsythe and give the Tampa Bay Rays a 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Monday night. Forsythe started the winning rally with a one-out walk. Evan Longoria had three hits and an RBI. Rays prospect Richie Shaffer went 0-for-2 with a hit-by-pitch and a walk in four plate appearances before leaving the game in the seventh. Jake McGee (1-1) pitched a perfect eighth to get the win and Brad Boxberger worked out of a jam in the ninth for his 27th save. David Robertson (4-3) took the loss. Jose Abreu and Carlos Sanchez each had a two-run home run for Chicago, which has dropped four of five following a hot streak.

Cubs at Pirates, PPD
The game between the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates was postponed Monday night after two rain delays totaling almost 3 ½ hours. No makeup date was announced. The game was called at midnight with the score tied at 1 in the middle of the fourth inning. Both teams scored in the third.

Tonight
Chicago Cubs (Arrieta 11-6) at Pittsburgh (Happ 0-0), 7:05 p.m.
Kansas City (D.Duffy 4-5) at Detroit (Verlander 1-3), 7:08 p.m.           WSJM-AM/WCSY-FM 6:40
Tampa Bay (Archer 9-8) at Chicago White Sox (Sale 9-6), 8:10 p.m.

MLB – Price is right in Jays debut
David Price was stellar in his first game with the Jays, striking out 11 and allowing just one run and three hits in eight innings of a 5-1 triumph over Minnesota. He improved to 10-4 and held the Twins to two hits after Torii Hunter homered in the second inning. Price was on the mound for the first time since being acquired from Detroit on July 30.

MLB – Bryant returns to Cubs’ lineup
Rookie third baseman Kris Bryant was back in the Chicago Cubs’ lineup on Monday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates, a day after leaving a win at Milwaukee when he felt woozy following a headfirst slide into second base. Bryant passed all of the necessary concussions tests Monday. On Sunday, Bryant’s head struck Brewers shortstop Jean Segura’s leg when he slid into second base in the fifth inning.

MLB – Cubs call up OF Matt Szczur, designate pitcher Richard
The Chicago Cubs recalled outfielder Matt Szczur from Triple-A Iowa and designated left-hander Clayton Richard for assignment Monday night before their game with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Szczur was hitting .295 with seven home runs, 26 RBIs and 19 stolen bases in 58 games with Iowa. In 32 games with the Cubs earlier this season, he batted .211 with one homer, eight RBIs and two steals. Richard was 2-0 with a 4.29 ERA in four games, including three starts. Right-hander Dan Haren, acquired last Friday from the Miami Marlins in a trade, will take Richard’s spot in the rotation and make his Cubs’ debut Wednesday night against the Pirates.

MLB – White Sox call up Trayce Thompson, brother of Warriors star
The Chicago White Sox recalled outfielder Trayce Thompson, brother of Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson, from Triple-A Charlotte before the game with the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night. Thompson takes the roster spot of right-hander Scott Carroll, who was optioned to the minors on Sunday. The White Sox had been playing one outfielder short since J.B. Shuck (left hamstring strain) was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Saturday. Thompson, 24, was hitting .260 with 13 home runs, 39 runs batted in and 53 runs scored for Charlotte this season. “He’s an athletic kid, a smart baseball player,” Chicago manager Robin Ventura said. “We needed an extra outfielder and Trayce was playing the best.” He is the son of Mychal Thompson, who played 13 seasons in the NBA.

NFL – Ngata on injury list at start of practice for Lions
Detroit Lions defensive tackle Haloti Ngata missed the team’s first practice of training camp Monday with a strained hamstring. Ngata, acquired by the Lions in a trade when Ndamukong Suh left via free agency this offseason, was put on the active/non-football injury list. He was on the field with his teammates but wore a hat instead of a helmet. He did not talk to reporters as he left the field after practice. Coach Jim Caldwell says Ngata hurt himself working out and will be out “for a little bit,” Caldwell says Ngata is a quick healer. Rookie defensive back Alex Carter also missed practice after twisting an ankle last week. The Lions acquired the 6-foot-4, 340-pound Ngata from Baltimore in March.

NFL – Former Lions RB Mel Farr dies at age 70
Mel Farr, the Detroit Lions’ running back who rushed for over 3,000 yards in seven NFL seasons, has died. He was 70. A Lions spokesman said Farr’s son confirmed his father died on Monday. Farr spent his entire NFL career with Detroit, from 1967-73. He was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 1967, when he ran for 860 yards in 13 games. He ran for 717 yards in 1970, helping the Lions go 10-4 in the regular season. They reached the playoffs that season for the first time since 1957. Farr finished his pro career with 3,072 yards on 739 carries. Farr played college football at UCLA, and he finished seventh in the voting for the 1966 Heisman Trophy.

MILB – Hessman sets minor league HR record with No. 433
Call him the real-life Crash Davis. Mike Hessman, an infielder for Triple-A Toledo in the Detroit Tigers’ system, became the career home run leader for U.S.-based minor leagues Monday night, hitting his 433rd in the seventh inning of a game against Lehigh Valley. Davis was the character played by Kevin Costner in the movie “Bull Durham” who set the minor league record for homers. Hessman reached the actual mark in style, hitting a grand slam to break a tie on the career list with Buzz Arlett. According to the Society for American Baseball Research, Hector Espino hit 484 minor league home runs, but he hit most of them in the Mexican League, which is not part of the affiliated minor league system. The 37-year-old Hessman has played 109 games in the major leagues for Atlanta, Detroit and the New York Mets. He has not appeared in the majors since 2010. He’s hit 14 homers in the majors, batting .188 overall.

Special Olympics – Second Special Olympian found unharmed
An autistic Special Olympics athlete has been found sleeping on a lawn five miles from Los Angeles International Airport, where he vanished early Monday morning. The 15-year-old from the Ivory Coast was tired, but healthy and in good spirits when he was reunited with a member of the delegation who stayed behind after he went missing. Earlier in the day, an Albanian athlete who disappeared from the games turned up safe in a community on the east side of the San Francisco Bay.

No more bat boys/girls
The National Baseball Congress is suspending the use of bat boys and girls during its World Series in Kansas following the death of a 9-year-old boy who was hit by a bat. Kaiser Carlile died Sunday after he was hit in the head with a follow-through swing near the on-deck circle during the Liberal Bee Jays’ game a day earlier. He was wearing a helmet. The Wichita Eagle reports that the general manager of the National Baseball Congress later decided to suspend the use of bat boys and girls.

WNBA – Women’s National Basketball Association
Tonight
Indiana Fever at Chicago Sky, 8:00 p.m.

MWL – Midwest League Baseball
Yesterday
No games yesterday

Tonight
Clinton Lumberkings at West Michigan Whitecaps, 7 p.m.
Kane County Cougars at South Bend Cubs, 7:05 p.m.
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers at Lansing Lugnuts, 7:05 p.m.
Beloit Snappers at Great Lakes Loons, 7:05 p.m.