Weekday Morning Sports – Wednesday 7/8/15

sportsreport

Sports Radio 1400 WSJM     @wsjmsports     wsjmsports.com     Wednesday, July 08, 2015

MLB – Major League Baseball
Last Night
Seattle Mariners 7, Detroit Tigers 6 – 11 Innings
Toronto Blue Jays 2, Chicago White Sox 1
Chicago Cubs 7, St. Louis Cardinals 4, 1st game
Chicago Cubs 5, St. Louis Cardinals 3, 2nd game

Mariners 7, Tigers 6 – F/11 – Cano’s game-winner gives Seattle 7-6 win over Detroit
Robinson Cano lined an RBI single into the right-field corner with one out in the 11th inning, giving the Seattle Mariners a 7-6 win over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night. Cano lined a 2-1 pitch from Detroit left-hander Ian Krol (1-2) that one-hopped off the wall. It was the first walk-off hit for Cano since Aug. 28, 2009, with the New York Yankees.  Austin Jackson reached on a fielder’s choice when Brad Miller was forced out at second base. Franklin Gutierrez then chopped a single through the left side, and for the third straight inning Seattle had the winning run at second base with one out.  Charlie Furbush (1-1) pitched the top of the 11th for the victory. Furbush and Carson Smith combined for three solid innings and kept Detroit off the scoreboard despite the Tigers having runners in scoring position in the 10th and 11th.

Blue Jays 2, White Sox 1 – Donaldson, Doubront lead Blue Jays over White Sox
Josh Donaldson’s solo home run in the fourth inning was the difference as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Chicago White Sox 2-1 on Tuesday night. Felix Doubront (1-0) earned the win in his first start of the season after yielding just one run, six hits and one walk in 6 2/3 innings. Doubront, who made his Blue Jays debut in a relief appearance against Detroit on Friday, had six strikeouts. Jose Bautista knocked in the other run for the Blue Jays, who improved to 2-3 on their 10-game road trip. Jose Quintana (4-8) was saddled with the loss despite striking out eight in eight innings. Quintana, who was 4-1 with a 1.80 ERA in six career starts vs. Toronto entering the game, gave up two runs and four hits and walked none.

Cubs 7,  Cardinals 4 – Game 1 – Arrieta, Rizzo lead Cubs over Cards in doubleheader opener
Jake Arrieta pitched into the seventh inning and also got a career-high two hits, Anthony Rizzo launched his 16th homer, and the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-4 Tuesday in the first game of a day-night doubleheader. Rizzo’s two-run drive highlighted a four-run eighth after St. Louis pulled within one. Arrieta (9-5) came through on the mound and at the plate as the Cubs won for the sixth time in eight games. The right-hander gave up two runs and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings and improved to 3-0 in his past four starts. Arrieta contributed a pair of singles and scored a run after starting the season 1 for 33. Chris Denorfia had two hits and drove in three runs as Chicago beat St. Louis for the third time in 11 games. He gave the Cubs 2-0 lead with a two-run single in the third off Tyler Lyons (2-1).

Cubs 5, Cardinals 3 – Game 2 – Cubs beat Cardinals to sweep doubleheader
The Chicago Cubs used a three-run seventh inning en route to a 5-3 win and a doubleheader sweep over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday. Seth Maness (3-1), who relieved Cardinals starter Tim Cooney after 5 1/3 innings, allowed an RBI single to Addison Russell that tied the game at 2-2 in the seventh. Russell’s hit was just inside the bag at first and Maness was then ejected by first base umpire Pat Hoberg for arguing the play. Kevin Siegrist stepped on the hill and got Dexter Fowler to ground into a potential inning-ending double play, but his throw to second skipped into center field as the Cubs took the lead. Anthony Rizzo delivered a sacrifice fly in the next at-bat for a two-run edge. Starlin Castro accounted for the final margin with a sac fly in the eighth for the Cubs. Travis Wood (5-3) earned the win for a scoreless seventh, Hector Rondon pitched the eighth and Jason Motte closed it out against his former team for his fifth save of the season despite giving up a run in the ninth.

Today
Detroit (An.Sanchez 7-7) at Seattle (Happ 4-5), 3:40 p.m.                    WSJM-AM/WCSY-FM 3:15
St. Louis (Wacha 10-3) at Chicago Cubs (Hammel 5-4), 8:05 p.m.
Toronto (Hutchison 8-2) at Chicago White Sox (Danks 4-8), 8:10 p.m.

NHL – Blackhawks, van Riemsdyk agree to 2-year extension
Defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk and the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks have agreed to a two-year contract extension through the 2017-18 season. The Blackhawks announced the move on Tuesday. The 23-year-old van Riemsdyk had one assist in 18 regular-season games with the Blackhawks last season. He skated in four Stanley Cup Final games.

NASCAR – NASCAR to try new aero packages at 3 additional tracks
NASCAR will use track-specific rules packages at three more race tracks as the sanctioning body continues to try to improve the racing. A unique rules package had already been announced for Saturday night’s race at Kentucky. NASCAR executive Steve O’Donnell said Tuesday a similar low downforce package will be used at Darlington in September. Teams will use a higher drag rules package at Indianapolis Motor Speedway later this month and Michigan International Speedway in August. For Indy and Michigan, the aero package will feature a 9-inch spoiler and 1-inch wicker bill; a rear fascia extension panel similar to that currently used for superspeedway events; a 2-inch leading edge on the splitter; and a 43-inch splitter extension panel.

NBA – Bulls sign 1st-round pick Portis, add 2 assistants
The Chicago Bulls have signed first-round draft pick Bobby Portis and added Randy Brown and Charlie Henry as assistants to new coach Fred Hoiberg. They also announced Tuesday they are retaining assistant Mike Wilhelm. Portis, the No. 22 overall pick, was the SEC Player of the Year last season at Arkansas. A 6-foot-11 forward, he ranked second in the conference in scoring at 17.5 points per game and averaged 8.9 rebounds. Brown, who played on three Bulls championship teams in the 1990s, also spent the past six seasons with the organization. He was assistant general manager from 2013-15 after serving as special assistant to the general manager (2010-13) and director of player development (2009-10).  Henry worked the past three seasons under Hoiberg at Iowa State.

Tennis – Wimbledon
Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Agnieszka Radwanska and Garbine Muguruza have advanced to the Wimbledon women’s semifinals. Williams knocked out Victoria Azarenka, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, Sharapova beat CoCo Vandeweghe, 6-3, 6-7, 6-2, Radwanska ousted Madison Keys in three sets and Muguruza was a straight-sets winner over Timea Bacsinszky. Novak Djokovic advanced to the men’s quarters by downing Kevin Anderson 7-5 in the fifth set.

Golf – Golfer Stallings suspended
Golfer Scott Stallings has received a three-month suspension from the PGA for violating the tour’s anti-doping policy. He is the third player to be sanctioned for performance-enhancing drugs since the policy was introduced to golf seven years ago, and the first to have won a PGA event. Stallings captured three events in five years and lost in a 4-man playoff at Torrey Pines this year.

Cycling – Tour de France – Martin takes lead
German rider Tony Martin has won the fourth stage of the Tour de France to take the overall lead.  Martin started the day in second place overall, one second behind Britain’s Chris Froome. He now leads Froome by 12 seconds and American Tejay Van Garderen by 25 seconds.

Soccer – Gold Cup – USA 2, Honduras 1– Americans win opener
The U.S. men’s soccer team has opened its CONCACAF Gold Cup title defense by beating Honduras 2-1 in Frisco, Texas. Clint Dempsey scored twice on headers set up by Michael Bradley, who wore the captain’s arm band in his 100th international appearance. Dempsey tallied in the 25th and 64th minutes to put the Americans up 2-0.

MWL – Midwest League Baseball
Last Night
West Michigan Whitecaps 3, Lake County Captains 0
South Bend Cubs 2, Fort Wayne Tin Caps 1
Lansing Lugnuts 5, Great Lakes Loons 3

Tonight
West Michigan Whitecaps at Lake County Captains, 7 p.m.
South Bend Cubs at Fort Wayne Tin Caps, 7:05 p.m.
Lansing Lugnuts at Great Lakes Loons, 7:05 p.m.