Weekday Morning Sports – Thursday 8/4/16

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sportsreport-88

95.7 & 1400 WSJM Sports     @wsjmsports     wsjmsports.com     Thursday, August 04, 2016

MLB – Major League Baseball
Last Night
Detroit Tigers 2, Chicago White Sox 1
Chicago Cubs 5, Miami Marlins 4

Tigers 2, White Sox 1 – Tigers’ Martinez returns from DL to hit go-ahead home run
J.D. Martinez broke an eighth-inning tie with a pinch homer on the first pitch he had faced since June and the Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox 2-1 Wednesday night for their eighth straight victory. Playing for the first time since fracturing his elbow June 16th, Martinez received a long standing ovation on his way to the plate to hit for James McCann leading off the inning.  The cheers got a lot louder when Martinez launched Chris Sale’s first pitch into the shrubs above the centerfield fence. Martinez took a curtain call after the inning, much to the crowd’s delight. The White Sox put their first two runners on against Francisco Rodriguez in the ninth, and Melky Cabrera moved to third on Justin Morneau’s fly out. Rodriguez struck out Todd Frazier, but walked Avisail Garcia to load the bases. Dioner Navarro grounded out to second to end the game. Sale (14-5) took the loss, allowing two runs on six hits in an eight-inning complete game. He walked one and struck out 10. Shane Greene (2-2) got the win after pitching out of a seventh-inning jam, while Rodriguez picked up his 30th save.

Cubs 5, Marlins 4 – Cubs rally for 3 in 9th to complete sweep of Marlins
The Chicago Cubs rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, capped by a bases-loaded walk for a tie and a wild pitch to score the winning run, for a 5-4 victory over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday and a sweep of the three-game series. Ben Zobrist drew a bases-loaded walk with two out to tie the score. With Willson Contreras at the plate, Marlins closer A.J. Ramos (1-1) threw a wild pitch to allow Matt Szczur to score the winning run from third base. It was Ramos’ second blown save of the season in 33 chances. Jeff Mathis hit a two-run home run, Christian Yelich homered and drove in a pair of runs and Tom Koehler tossed six strong innings to give the Marlins a 4-1 lead heading to the bottom of the eighth. Justin Grimm (1-0) pitched the ninth inning for the win. Chicago has won seven of eight.

Today
Chicago White Sox (Jose Quintana 8-8) at Detroit (Jordan Zimmermann 9-4), 1:10 p.m.  WSJM Sports/WCSY-FM 6:45
Cubs are off

MLB – Cubs place Hammel on bereavement list, recall Grimm
The Chicago Cubs placed right-hander Jason Hammel on the bereavement list and recalled right-hander Justin Grimm from Triple-A Iowa before Wednesday’s game with the Miami Marlins. The 33-year-old Hammel won his career-high 11th game Tuesday night with six shutout innings against the Marlins. He is 4-0 with a 1.86 ERA in his last five starts. Because of a family matter, Hammel won’t accompany the team to Oakland for a three-game series against the Athletics this weekend. He’s expected to make his next start Tuesday against the Los Angeles Angels at Wrigley Field. Grimm, who was optioned to the minors on Saturday, has no record with a 4.72 ERA in 45 relief appearances with the Cubs this season. He made one relief appearance for Iowa, striking three in an inning on Monday.

NFL – Lions hoping for big improvement on offensive line
Three times in the past five years, the Detroit Lions have drafted an offensive lineman in the first round. Now it’s time for that young group to show some real progress. With Calvin Johnson lost to retirement, the Lions still have their share of skilled offensive players in Matthew Stafford, Golden Tate and Ameer Abdullah. The big question is whether Detroit can build on its encouraging finish in 2015, or whether the offense will look as it did when the team lost seven of its first eight games. A lot will depend on the offensive line. The Lions have had to reshuffle their line quite a bit over the past few seasons, with Jeff Backus, Rob Sims and Dominic Raiola having moved on into retirement. Detroit used valuable first-round draft picks on tackle Riley Reiff (2012), guard Laken Tomlinson (2015) and tackle Taylor Decker (2016), and the Lions also took guard Larry Warford (2013) and center Travis Swanson (2014) in the third round. Those five players all figure to play significant roles this season as Detroit tries to recover from its disappointing 2015.

NCAA Football – Notre Dame TE Jones academically ineligible for season
Notre Dame tight end Alize Jones will miss the season because he is academically ineligible. Jones tweeted a message Wednesday saying he hadn’t met his “academic responsibility” and coach Brian Kelly issued a statement confirming that Jones won’t play this season but is permitted to practice and remains on the roster. The 6-foot-4, 240-pound sophomore from Las Vegas said he plans to stay at Notre Dame “and work even harder.”  Jones said he is disappointed, but plans to make the best of the situation. Jones started five games as a freshman, finishing with 13 catches for 190 yards. The Irish have depth at tight end with Durham Smythe returning after missing most of last season with injuries and Nic Weishar and Tyler Luatua also back. Practice begins Saturday.

Olympics – Phelps to carry flag for opening ceremony
The most decorated athlete in Olympic history will lead the U.S. delegation into the Olympic stadium. Swimming star Michael Phelps has been selected in a vote by fellow members to carry the American flag Friday for the opening ceremony. Phelps has won 18 golds and 22 medals overall, far more than any other athlete. He skipped the opening ceremony at the last three Olympics to rest up for the 400-meter individual medley, but he’s not taking part in the event this year.

Olympics – W Soccer – US Women open with 2-0 win over New Zealand
The U.S. women’s soccer team has opened its Olympic schedule by getting goals from Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan in a 2-0 win over New Zealand. The three-time defending Olympic champs are trying to become the first team to win the Summer Games after succeeding at the World Cup.

Olympics – More Russians appeals denied
All of Russia’s weightlifters and 17 of its rowers will miss the Rio Games after the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected their appeals against doping-related suspensions. The IOC had said it would not allow Russians to compete in Rio if they had previously been banned for doping, were implicated in the alleged cover-up or had not been tested often enough internationally.

Olympics – U.S. men and women’s basketball teams staying on cruise liner in Rio
The U.S. men and women’s basketball teams arrived in Rio, spent some time on their luxury cruise ship that will house them for the next 20 days and then the ladies went to work. Both teams have spent the last few weeks crisscrossing the country on pre-Olympic exhibition tours. They piled up easy victories in those contests, but the travel was starting to get to them. The U.S. women had a light practice before speaking to the media Wednesday evening while the men’s team had an optional shootaround after arriving on a charter flight from Houston. They will have their first news conference in Rio on Thursday.  It’s the second time both teams will be housed on a cruise ship during the Olympics. Taurasi, Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings and Carmelo Anthony, all four-time Olympians, were on those squads.

Olympics – Baseball and softball to return to Olympics in Tokyo 2020
The IOC has announced that baseball and softball will return to the Olympics at the 2020 Tokyo Games. Baseball became a medal sport for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics but was dropped for the 2012 London Games and won’t be played this year in Rio de Janeiro. Other sports approved for Tokyo by the IOC include skateboarding, surfing, karate and sport climbing.   While the pro leagues in Japan and some other countries have agreed to suspend their seasons to allow their players to go to the Olympics, MLB has not.

MWL – Midwest League Baseball
Last Night
West Michigan 4, Dayton 1
West Michigan 3, Dayton 2
South Bend 2, Fort Wayne 0
Bowling Green 7, Lansing 2
Lake County 8, Great Lakes 2

Tonight
Dayton at West Michigan, 7:00 p.m.
Bowling Green at Lansing, 7:00 p.m.
Fort Wayne at South Bend, 7:00 p.m.
Lake County at Great Lakes, 7:00 p.m.