Weekday Morning Sports – Wednesday 10/12/16

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95.7 & 1400 WSJM Sports     @wsjmsports     wsjmsports.com     Wednesday, October 12, 2016

MLB Playoffs – Division Series (Best of 5)
Last Night
NLDS: Chicago Cubs 6, San Francisco Giants 5                                    (CHC Wins 3-1)
NLDS: Los Angeles Dodgers 6, Washington Nationals 5                       (Series Tied 2-2)

Cubs 6, Giants 5 – Cubs rally for 4 runs in 9th, beat Giants 6-5 to win NLDS
Javier Baez’s tiebreaking single capped a four-run rally in the ninth inning, and the Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants 6-5 on Tuesday night in Game 4 to win their NL Division Series.  Chasing their first World Series title since 1908, the Cubs will open the NL Championship Series at home Saturday against the Los Angeles Dodgers or Washington Nationals. That matchup is tied 2-all heading into the deciding Game 5 on Thursday. Held to two hits over eight innings by Matt Moore, the Cubs trailed 5-2 before coming back against a beleaguered bullpen that sabotaged San Francisco one last time.

Dodgers 6, Nationals 5 – Dodgers force deciding game 5
Chase Utley laced an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 6-5 win over the Washington Nationals, tying the National League Division Series at two games apiece. The Dodgers blew a 5-2 lead in the seventh before Utley’s hit forced a fifth and deciding game Thursday in Washington. Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run homer and Joc Pederson had two RBIs to help the Dodgers overcome Daniel Murphy’s four ribbies.

Today
No games today

MLB – Estrada will start Game 1
The Blue Jays say Marco Estrada will start Game 1 of the American League Championship Series Friday in Cleveland. Estrada came within two outs of a complete-game victory in Toronto’s 10-1 rout of Texas in the opener of the ALDS, holding the Rangers to a run and four hits. He is 3-1 with a 2.68 ERA in eight career postseason games, including four starts.

NFL – Lions sign Forsett to help short-handed backfield
The Detroit Lions have signed running back Justin Forsett to bolster their short-handed backfield.  Forsett was released earlier this month by Baltimore after asking to be let go. He was on the inactive list two weekends ago and there didn’t seem to be much playing time with the Ravens in his future. The Lions are trying to patch up their backfield, which is missing Ameer Abdullah because of foot problems. Forsett ran for 1,266 yards in 2014. He broke his arm last season after playing in 10 games. The Lions also announced Tuesday that they have re-signed offensive lineman Brian Mihalik to the practice squad, waived linebacker Steve Longa and released defensive end Wallace Gilberry from injured reserve.

NHL – 2016-17 Regular Season
Tonight
St. Louis Blues at Chicago Blackhawks, 8:00 p.m.
Toronto Maple Leafs at Ottawa Senators, 7:00 p.m.
Calgary Flames at Edmonton Oilers, 10:00 p.m.
Los Angeles Kings at San Jose Sharks, 10:30 p.m.

NHL – Wild claim RW Teemu Pulkkinen off waivers from Red Wings
The Minnesota Wild have claimed right wing Teemu Pulkkinen off waivers from the Detroit Red Wings and added him to their roster for the season opener. Pulkkinen was picked up on Tuesday, as right wing Christoph Bertschy and goalie Alex Stalock were assigned to the team’s AHL affiliate in Iowa. The 24-year-old Pulkkinen had 11 goals and nine assists over 70 games for the Red Wings over parts of three seasons. The native of Finland also totaled 120 points (65 goals, 55 assists) over 117 games the last two years in the AHL with Grand Rapids. Pulkkinen was drafted by Detroit in the fourth round in 2010. The Wild start the season at St. Louis on Thursday.

NCAAFB – Wisconsin can show Ohio State it belongs among B10 best
Clearly, No. 2 Ohio State and No. 4 Michigan have been the class of the Big Ten so far. No. 8 Wisconsin and No. 10 Nebraska will get a chance to prove the conference isn’t the Big Two and Little Eight like it used to be years ago when Woody Hayes was leading the Buckeyes and Bo Schembechler was coaching the Wolverines. Sure, the conference has four teams in the top 10 of The Associated Press college football poll for the first time since 1960 during the regular season. The Badgers, though, have to beat the Buckeyes on Saturday at home to stay highly ranked and to prove they belong among the Big Ten’s best after a closely contested loss at Michigan. When Jim Harbaugh was asked during the Big Ten teleconference yesterday if he would take a look at the Buckeyes during his team’s bye week, or if he does on a weekly basis, he simply refused to answer the question. Harbaugh said the Wolverines are taking this week as an “improvement week” and then spoke about his plans for the team for the week.
 
NCAAFB – Michigan State listing 3 QBs atop depth chart
Michigan State’s quarterback situation is hard to figure out after three straight losses. The Spartans are listing Tyler O’Connor, Damion Terry and Brian Lewerke together atop the depth chart for this weekend’s game against Northwestern. O’Connor has been the starter all season, but he was replaced by Terry late in last week’s loss to Brigham Young. Coach Mark Dantonio said O’Connor, Terry and Lewerke would be off limits to reporters this week while preparing for the next game. The Spartans (2-3) have lost three in a row for the first time since 2009, a jarring stretch for a program that’s won two of the last three Big Ten titles.

NCAAFB – McCaffrey iffy for game against Irish
Stanford football coach David Shaw says running back Christian McCaffrey’s status for Saturday’s game against Notre Dame may not be clear until Saturday morning. Nagging injuries have led to McCaffrey’s limited production over the last two games. He rushed for 436 yards over his first three games before gaining just 84 on the ground in losses to Washington and Washington State.
 
NBA – Derrick Rose says he smelled ‘rape’ setup early
Derrick Rose says he had a hunch his ex-girlfriend was going to claim he raped her after he and two friends had sex with her. Rose testified Tuesday that he became suspicious when the woman texted the following day to describe burns she claimed she got on her hands from a fire pit outside his Beverly Hills house.  Rose says he never saw the woman burn herself, and he had an inkling he was being set up.  Rose is testifying for a second day in the $21.5 million lawsuit that says he and his friends had sex without the woman’s consent when she was incapacitated from drinking and, possibly, drugs. Rose says the woman was sober, and he assumed consent based on their past and her behavior.

WNBA – Women’s National Basketball Association – 2016 WNBA Finals – (Best of 5)
Last Night
Minnesota Lynx 79, Los Angeles Sparks 60                                           (Series tied 1-1)

Lynx 79, Sparks 60 – Moore leads Lynx over Sparks to even WNBA finals
Maya Moore had 21 points and 12 rebounds to help the Lynx even the WNBA Finals at one game apiece with a 79-60 victory in Game 2 on Tuesday night.  Sylvia Fowles had 13 points and 15 boards and Minnesota held Los Angeles to 32.9 percent shooting to bounce back from a last-second loss in Game 1. Seimone Augustus scored 14 points and Minnesota dominated on the glass, 46-32, to pull away.  Game 3 is Saturday in L.A.

Golf – Big year for Dustin Johnson recognized
An already outstanding year of golf by Dustin Johnson has been topped off with him winning the major postseason awards. The PGA Tour has announced that he has captured the Jack Nicklaus Award for being player of the year as well as the Arnold Palmer Award for leading the money list and the Byron Nelson Award for having the lowest adjusted scoring average.
 
NCAAWBB – Notre Dame’s McGraw wins
Notre Dame’s Muffet McGraw will receive the John R. Wooden Award’s Legends of Coaching honor.  The annual award is given to college basketball coaches who exemplify the late UCLA legend’s standard of coaching success and personal integrity. McGraw will receive the award on April 7 at the College Basketball Awards in Los Angeles.

MHSAA – High School Sports
Last Night
Boys Soccer
Lakeshore 5, Gull Lake 0
Battle Creek Central 2, Niles 0
South Haven 2, Otsego 1 – OT

Girls Volleyball
Coloma 3, Bangor 0
Constantine 3, Hartford 0
Marcellus 3, Decatur 0
Watervliet 3, Gobles 0

Tonight
Boys Soccer
Plainwell at Otsego, 6:00 p.m.
Dowagiac at Paw Paw, 6:45 p.m.
Vicksburg at Three Rivers, 6:45 p.m.
Buchanan at Howardsville Christian, 5:00 p.m.
Comstock at Lake Michigan Catholic, 5:00 p.m.
Parchment at Michigan Lutheran, 5:00 p.m.
Schoolcraft at Bangor, 5:00 p.m.
Gobles at Bloomingdale, 7:00 p.m.
Delton-Kellogg at Fennville, 5:00 p.m.
Hartford at Kalamazoo Christian, 5:00 p.m.

Girls Volleyball
St. Joseph at Niles, 6:30 p.m.
Battle Creek Central at Mattawan, 6:30 p.m.
Cassopolis at Berrien Springs, 5:30 p.m.
Mendon at Bronson, 5:00 p.m.

MHSAA – High School Football Rankings

Division 1

Division 5

1. Detroit Cass Tech (5)

(7-0) 50 

1. Ithaca (4)

(7-0) 45 

2. Detroit Catholic Central

(7-0) 45 

2. Menominee

(7-0) 43 

3. Dearborn Fordson

(7-0) 38 

3. G. R. West Catholic (1)

(6-1) 42 

4. Utica Eisenhower

(7-0) 37 

4. Portland

(7-0) 33 

5. Saline

(7-0) 30 

(tie) Frankenmuth

(7-0) 33 

6. Davison

(7-0) 23 

6. Freeland

(7-0) 28 

7. Grandville

(6-1) 19 

7. Lansing Catholic

(6-1) 17 

8. Rockford

(5-2) 14 

8. Reed City

(7-0) 14 

9. Warren Mott

(6-1) 7

9. Algonac

(7-0) 10 

10. Romeo

(5-2) 3

10. Montague

(6-1) 4

(tie)  Dearborn

(6-1) 3

Others receiving 12 or more votes: None.

 

(tie)  Brighton

(6-1) 3

Others receiving 12 or more votes: None.

Division 6

1. Negaunee (5)

(7-0) 50

Division 2

2. Schoolcraft

(7-0) 44

1. Lowell (4)

(7-0) 48 

3. Grass Lake

(7-0) 41

2. Detroit King

(6-1) 44 

4. Millington

(6-1) 34

3. Walled Lake Western (1)

(6-1) 43 

5. Leroy Pine River

(6-1) 27

4. Birmingham Groves

(7-0) 34 

6. Jackson Lumen Christi

(5-2) 24

5. Midland Dow

(7-0) 31 

7. Calumet

(6-1) 22

6. Traverse City Central

(7-0) 20 

8. Maple City Glen Lake

(5-2) 12

7. Temperance Bedford

(6-0) 18 

9. Laingsburg

(6-1) 9

8. Portage Central

(6-1) 14 

10. Roscommon

(6-1) 8

9. Oak Park

(5-2) 13 

Others receiving 12 or more votes: None.

(6-1) 8

10. Detroit U-D Jesuit

(5-1) 5

Others receiving 12 or more votes: None.

Division 7

1. Traverse City St.Francis (5)

(7-0) 50 

Division 3

2. Pewamo-Westphalia

(7-0) 42 

1. Muskegon (5)

(6-1) 50 

3. New Lothrop

(7-0) 39 

2. Edwardsburg

(7-0) 43 

4. Saugatuck

(7-0) 35 

3. Allen Park

(7-0) 39 

5. Detroit Loyola

(6-1) 30 

4. Chelsea

(7-0) 38 

6. Ubly

(7-0) 27 

5. DeWitt

(6-1) 27 

7. Sand Creek

(7-0) 20 

6. Byron Center

(6-1) 25 

8. Hudson

(6-1) 10 

7. Grand Rapids Christian

(6-1) 19 

9. Elkton-Pigeon Bay Port Laker

(6-1) 8

8. Fenton

(6-1) 8

(tie)  Unionville-Sebewaing

(6-1) 8

9. Orchard Lake St. Mary’s

(4-3) 7

 

10. Zeeland West

(5-2) 5

Others receiving 12 or more votes: None.

Others receiving 12 or more votes: None.

Division 8

Division 4

1. Muskegon Catholic Central (5)

(7-0) 50 

1. Detroit Country Day (2)

(7-0) 47 

2. St. Ignace LaSalle

(6-1) 42 

2. G. R. Catholic Central  (1)

(7-0) 44 

3. Climax-Scotts

(7-0) 36 

3. River Rouge (2)

(6-1) 40 

4. Lake Linden-Hubbell

(7-0) 35 

4. Marysville

(7-0) 37 

5. Frankfort-Elberta

(7-0) 29 

5. Benton Harbor

(7-0) 32 

(tie)  Ottawa Lake Whiteford

(7-0) 29 

6. Alma

(6-1) 18 

7. Breckenridge

(7-0) 17 

7. Escanaba

(6-1) 13 

8. Newberry

(6-1) 12 

8. Lake Fenton

(7-0) 11 

9. Norway

(6-1) 11 

9. Lake Odessa Lakewood

(7-0) 10 

10. Gaylord St. Mary

(6-1) 5

10. Corunna

(6-1) 9

Others receiving 12 or more votes: None.

 

Others receiving 12 or more votes: None.

8-Man Football

1. Powers North Central (9)

(7-0) 90 

2. Deckerville

(7-0) 80 

3. Crystal Falls Forest Park

(6-1) 62 

4. Engadine

(7-0) 51 

5. Cedarville

(6-1) 33 

Others receiving 12 or more votes:

Lawrence

(6-1) 13

Portland St Patrick

(7-0) 13

Merritt Academy

(7-0) 12