Weekday Morning Sports – Friday 5/4/18

sportsreport-430
sportsreport-430

MLB – Major League Baseball
Last Night
Kansas City Royals 10, Detroit Tigers 6
Chicago White Sox 6, Minnesota Twins 5
Cubs were off

Royals 10, Tigers 6 – Royals hit 3 homers as offense powers 10-6 win over Tigers
Lucas Duda had three hits and drove in four, the Royals pounded a trio of homers and Kansas City beat the Detroit Tigers 10-6 on Thursday to open their four-game series. Salvador Perez, Jorge Soler and Alex Gordon each went deep for the Royals, who have quietly gotten on track offensively after a miserable start.  Everyone in the starting lineup had at least one hit except for Cheslor Cuthbert, and he came within a couple feet of a home run in the seventh inning. Kansas City pounded out 13 hits in all against Mike Fiers and the Tigers bullpen. Reliever Chad Bell (0-1) allowed five runs and five hits in 1 2/3 innings. Eric Skoglund wasn’t much better on the mound for Kansas City, but Kyle McCarthy (3-0) wiggled out of a key sixth-inning jam before pitching a clean seventh to earn the victory in relief. Nick Castellanos homered and had 3 hits for Detroit, while Miguel Cabrera left with a strained hamstring in the 6th inning. The severity of the injury isn’t known.

White Sox 6, Twins 5 – Thompson hits game-ending homer as White Sox beat Twins 6-5
Trayce Thompson homered with two out in the ninth, and the Chicago White Sox stopped a four-game slide by topping the Minnesota Twins 6-5 on Thursday night. Thompson connected against former White Sox reliever Addison Reed (0-2), driving a 3-1 pitch 403 feet to left. It was Thompson’s third homer in 43 at-bats this season and third game-ending shot of his career. Chicago trailed 5-1 in the fourth inning. Nate Jones (2-0) got the win, retiring his only batter. Logan Morrison, who attracted little interest on the free-agent market over the winter despite hitting a career-high 38 homers for Tampa Bay last season, went deep in his first three-hit game for the Twins.

Tonight
Minnesota (Berrios 2-3) at Chicago White Sox (Fulmer 2-1), 8:10 p.m.
Detroit (Liriano 3-1) at Kansas City (Kennedy 1-3), 8:15 p.m.      WSJM Sports/Cosy-FM 7:50
Chicago Cubs (Quintana 3-1) at St. Louis (Mikolas 3-0), 8:15 p.m.

MLB – Tigers’ Cabrera returns, leaves game with hamstring strain
Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera has left a game at Kansas City after straining his right hamstring while taking second base in the sixth inning at Kauffman Stadium.  Cabrera was back in the lineup Thursday at designated hitter after missing the last three games with biceps spasms. He reached on a single in the sixth and was advancing to second on a single by Nick Castellanos when he pulled up and a team trainer went out to the field. Nico Goodrum replaced the two-time MVP on the bases. The 35-year-old Cabrera was hitting .326 with three homers and 21 RBIs coming into the game. He was retired in his first three at-bats before his base hit off reliever Scott Barlow.

MLB – Pujols at 2,999
Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols needs just one more hit for 3,000 after hitting a two-run double in a 12-3 pounding of Baltimore. The double gave the Angels an 8-0 lead in the second inning, but he was hit by a pitch in next third at-bat, popped up in the sixth inning and sent a fly ball to right in the eighth. Pujols and the Angels begin a five-game road trip tonight at Seattle.

MLB – Ichiro is transitioning to front office
Ichiro Suzuki has been released by the Mariners and is shifting into a front office role with the team, although he is not completely shutting the door on playing again. The Mariners announced that Suzuki was becoming a special assistant to the chairman effective immediately. The team said Suzuki will have an active presence with the team and assist with outfield play, base running and hitting. The 10-time All-Star has a .311 average and 3,089 hits, not including the 1,278 hits he amassed in nine seasons in Japan.

NBA – 2018 NBA Playoffs – Round 2 – (Best of 7)
Last Night
Cleveland Cavaliers 128, Toronto Raptors 101                            CLE leads 2-0
Boston Celtics 108, Philadelphia 76ers 103                                 BOS leads 2-0

Cavaliers 128, Raptors 101 – Cavs steal two in Toronto
LeBron James and Kevin Love combined for 74 points and 19 rebounds as the Cleveland Cavaliers whipped the Raptors, 128-110 in Toronto to take a two-games-to-none lead in the NBA’s Eastern Conference semifinals. James had 43 points and eight boards for the Cavaliers, who took two straight in Toronto after the Raptors posted a 34-7 home record during the regular season. Love finished with 31 points, grabbed 11 boards and helped the Cavs outscore the Raptors 37-24 in the third quarter to erase a two-point halftime deficit.

Celtics 108, Sixers 103 – Celtics go up 2-0
The Boston Celtics own a 2-0 lead in the NBA’s Eastern Conference semifinals after rookie Jayson Tatum capped his 21-point performance by hitting a pair of free throws in the closing second to secure a 108-103 victory over the 76ers. Terry Rozier had 20 points, nine assists and seven boards for the Celts, who trailed by 22 in the first half and by five midway through the fourth quarter. Jaylen Brown chipped in 13 points and four rebounds in 25 minutes after missing the opener with a straight right hamstring.

Tonight
Golden State Warriors at New Orleans Pelicans, 8:00 p.m.          GSW leads 2-0
Houston Rockets at Utah Jazz, 10:30 p.m.                                    Series tied 1-1

NHL – 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Round 2 – (Best of 7)
Last Night
Pittsburgh Penguins 3, Washington Capitals 1                             Series tied 2-2
Nashville Predators 2, Winnipeg Jets 1                                                  Series tied 2-2

Penguins 3, Capitals 1 – Pens get even
Jake Guentzel scored twice and Evgeni Malkin provided the game-winner as the Pittsburgh Penguins downed the Washington Capitals, 3-1 in Pittsburgh to even the Stanley Cup second-round series at two games apiece. Malkin snapped a 1-1 tie with a power-play goal late in the second period, about 4 1/2 minutes after T.J. Oshie tied it for the Capitals. Guentzel added an empty-netter with 58 seconds left.

Predators 2, Jets 1 – Preds hold off Jets
Pekka Rinne stopped 32 shots and P.K. Subban supplied the eventual game-winner as the Nashville Predators topped the Jets, 2-1 at Winnipeg. Rinne helped the Predators blankthe Jets until Patrik Laine scored a power-play goal with 51 seconds to play. Subban’s power-play goal put Nashville ahead 2-0 with 5:24 left in the second period.

Tonight
Tampa Bay Lightning at Boston Bruins, 7:00 p.m.                          TBL leads 2-1
San Jose Sharks at Vegas Golden Knights, 10:00 p.m.                  Series tied 2-2

NFL – Cowboys’ Witten retiring, heading to ESPN
Tight end Jason Witten has formally announced his retirement after 15 years with the Dallas Cowboys, choosing the TV booth just as friend and longtime teammate Tony Romo did a year ago. Witten says the “time has come to pass the torch.”  Just days from turning 36, Witten walks away as the leader in games, catches and yards receiving for a franchise with five Super Bowl wins, but none since the 1995 season. He and Tony Gonzalez are the only tight ends in NFL history with at least 1,000 catches and 10,000 yards.

NCAAMBB – Big Ten – Penn State extends coach Pat Chambers through `22
Penn State has extended basketball coach Pat Chambers’ contract through the 2021-22 season. Chambers led the Nittany Lions to 26 wins, the second-highest total in program history. Penn State also won 11 road and neutral-court games and beat nationally ranked Ohio State three times before capturing the NIT title. Chambers has been with Penn State for seven seasons without an NCAA Tournament appearance.

Golf – PGA – Peterson leads, Woods 6 back
Tiger Woods finds himself six strokes back through one round of the PGA’s Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow in Charlotte. ohn Peterson tops the leaderboard following a 6-under 65 that included eagles on back-to-back holes. He’s two strokes ahead of five players, including Quail Hollow member Johnson Wagner to PGA Tour rookie Keith Mitchell.  Two-time winner Rory McIlroy was in the group at 68.

ECHL – 2018 Kelly Cup Playoffs – Round 2 – (best of 7)
Last Night
Toledo Walleye at Fort Wayne Komets, 8:00 p.m.                          TOL leads 2-1

MWL – Midwest League Baseball
Last Night
Lansing 6, Kane County 5
Quad Cities 5, Great Lakes 0
Peoria 10, West Michigan 5
Cedar Rapids 6, South Bend 5

Tonight
Kane County at Great Lakes, 7:05 p.m.
Quad Cities at Lansing, 7:05 p.m.
South Bend at Peoria, 7:30 p.m.
West Michigan at Cedar Rapids, 7:35 p.m.

MHSAA – High School Sports
Yesterday
Baseball
Lakeshore 8, Gull Lake 5 – Game 1
Gull Lake 11, Lakeshore 9 – Game 2
Coloma 5, Saugatuck 0 – Game 1
Saugatuck 7, Coloma 6 – Game 2
Three Rivers 5, Allegan 1 – Game 1
Three Rivers 11, Allegan 2 – Game 2
Plainwell 12, Dowagiac 6 – Game 1
Dowagiac 9, Plainwell 5 – Game 2

Softball
Lakeshore 4, Gull Lake 1 – Game 1
Lakeshore 14, Gull Lake 1 – Game 2
Coloma 15, Saugatuck 0 – Game 1
Coloma 15, Saugatuck 2 – Game 2
Three Rivers 15, Allegan 0 – Game 1
Three Rivers 16, Allegan 1 – Game 2

Girls Soccer
Lake Michigan Catholic 5, Cassopolis 1
Fennville 2, Hartford 0
Edwardsburg 3, Paw Paw 3 – TIE
Three Rivers 4, Sturgis  2

Girls Tennis
Lake Michigan Catholic/Bridgman 5, Buchanan 3

Today
Baseball
St. Joseph at Mattawan, 4:00 p.m. (DH)
South Haven at Vicksburg, 4:00 p.m.
Paw Paw at Sturgis, 4:00 p.m.
New Buffalo at Michigan Lutheran, 4:30 p.m.
Lake Michigan Catholic at Marcellus, 4:30 p.m.
Benton Harbor at Comstock, 4:15 p.m. (DH)

Softball
St. Joseph at Mattawan, 4:00 p.m. (DH)
South Haven at Vicksburg, 4:00 p.m.
Paw Paw at Sturgis, 4:00 p.m.
New Buffalo at Michigan Lutheran, 4:30 p.m.
Lake Michigan Catholic at Marcellus, 4:30 p.m.

Girls Soccer
Niles at St. Joseph, 6:30 p.m.
Lakeshore at Portage Central, 6:30 p.m.
Gull Lake at Mattawan, 6:30 p.m.
Buchanan at Michigan Lutheran, 5:00 p.m.
Bridgman at South Haven 5:00 p.m.
Brandywine at Coloma, 5:00 p.m.

Girls Tennis
St. Joseph Quad, 2:00 p.m.   
(St. Joseph, Lakeshore, Lake Michigan Catholic, Vicksburg)

Track and Field
2018 St. Joseph/Benton Harbor Rotary Track and Field Meet, 4:00 p.m.   (Dickinson Stadium, St. Joseph)
(St. Joseph, Benton Harbor, Lakeshore, Lake Michigan Catholic, Berrien Springs, Bridgman, Cassopolis, Coloma, Dowagiac, Eau Claire, New Buffalo, Niles, Brandywine, Paw Paw, River Valley, Watervliet, Watervliet Grace Christian)

Bangor Invitational, 4:00 p.m.        (Viking Stadium, Bangor)
Bangor, Bloomingdale, Hartford, Kalamazoo Christian, Lawton, Otsego, South Haven