Weekday Morning Sports – Thursday 8/11/16

sportsreport-92
sportsreport-92

95.7 & 1400 WSJM Sports     @wsjmsports     wsjmsports.com     Thursday, August 11, 2016

MLB – Major League Baseball
Yesterday
Seattle Mariners 3, Detroit Tigers 1
Kansas City Royals 3, Chicago White Sox 2 – 14 Innings
Chicago Cubs 3, Los Angeles Angels 1

Mariners 3, Tigers 1 – Cruz homers after Verlander, Felix duel; Mariners top Tigers
Nelson Cruz hit his 28th homer in the eighth inning after Felix Hernandez and Justin Verlander dueled through the first seven, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Detroit Tigers 3-1 on Wednesday night to complete a three-game sweep. Cruz hit a 1-1 pitch from Justin Wilson (2-4) over the batter’s eye 421 feet away to help the Mariners get their season-high sixth straight victory. Hernandez and Verlander each pitched seven innings of one-run ball in a battle of former Cy Young Award winners. Hernandez struck out eight and allowed three hits and four walks, while Verlander allowed seven hits and struck out six. Leonys Martin added an insurance run on an RBI single later in the eighth. Arquimedes Caminero (1-0) pitched the eighth and earned the victory. Nick Vincent finished it for his second save.

Royals 3, White Sox 2 – (14 Innings) – Cain delivers game-winning hit for Royals in 14th inning
Lorenzo Cain’s two-out single in the 14th inning scored Christian Colon from second base and the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 3-2 on Wednesday night. Colon opened the inning with a single and Paulo Orlando sacrificed him to second. Cain laced a single to center to score Colon, ending the 4-hour, 34-minute game, the longest by the Royals this season. Dillon Gee (4-5), the eighth Kansas City pitcher, struck out three in two perfect innings to pick up the victory. Matt Albers (2-5) was charged with the loss. Jarrod Dyson led off the 13th inning with a triple, but the Royals failed to get him home. Dan Jennings struck out the next three batters: Drew Butera, Alex Gordon and Alcides Escobar.

Cubs 3, Angels 1 – Hammel dominates as Cubs win 9th straight, 3-1 over Angels
Jason Hammel won his career-best fifth straight start, pitching four-hit ball over six scoreless innings, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Los Angeles Angels 3-1 on Wednesday night for their season-high ninth straight win. The major league-leading Cubs matched their longest streak since Aug. 6-15 of last year and moved a season-best 30 games over .500 (71-41). They come into a four-game set against St. Louis at Wrigley Field with three straight series sweeps after consecutive victories over the Angels. Hammel (12-5) struck out six, walked two and helped himself at the plate when he singled and scored in the fifth against Ricky Nolasco to make it 2-0.  Addison Russell made it 3-1 with a solo homer off JC Ramirez in the eighth. Dexter Fowler chipped in with two hits, including an RBI double. Anthony Rizzo drove in a run with a single, and the Cubs won for the 12th time in 13 games.

Tonight
L.A. Angels (Rickey Nolasco 4-8) at Chicago Cubs (Jason Hammel 11-5), 8:05 p.m.
Chicago White Sox (Jose Quintana 9-8) at Kansas City (Ian Kennedy 6-9), 8:15 p.m.
Tigers are off

MLB – Prince Fielder emotional as he ends career after surgeries
Prince Fielder will not be able to come back after a second neck surgery. The Texas Rangers slugger choked up and shed tears Wednesday as he said health issues are forcing him to end his 12-season major league career. He was still wearing a neck brace 12 days after his second cervical fusion in just over two years. The 32-year-old Fielder says it’s going to be tough not being able to play again after being around the majors since he was a kid with his father, Cecil, a slugger who played 13 seasons for five different teams. Prince’s two young sons sat with him, also shedding tears. All of his Rangers teammates, along with coaches and staff, filled the interview room at their home ballpark to support him.

Olympics – Basketball
Team USA men’s basketball team was given a challenge before pulling away from Australia 98-88 in the group round play at the Olympics. Carmelo Anthony led the Americans with 31 points and Kyrie Irving of the NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers added 19 points and five assists.  The Americans are 3-0 in group play and next play Serbia on Friday and France on Sunday before the medal round.

Diana Taurasi drained a personal Olympic-best six 3-pointers as the Americans Serbia 110-84 in women’s basketball.  Taurasi wound up with 25 points to help the U.S. to its 44th straight Olympic win.

Olympics – Swimming
Superstar swimmer Michael Phelps has advanced to the final of the Olympic 200-meter individual medley as the top qualifier. Long-time rival Ryan Lochte will be right next to him again, ranking second. Thiago Pereira sent the Brazilian crowd into a frenzy by staying close to the two American stars, finishing third. Phelps will be seeking his fourth straight 200 IM title at the Olympics. He’s also got a chance to pull off that feat in the 100 butterfly. Phelps already has won three gold medals this week, and owns 21 gold medals in his Olympic career.

Katie Ledecky has led the United States to a gold medal in the women’s 4-by-200-meter freestyle relay. It’s her third gold of this Olympics.

Olympics – Cycling
A gutsy performance by Kristin Armstrong provided the American with her third consecutive gold medal in Olympic cycling time trial.  Racing through wind and rain over a demanding course, the soon-to-be 43-year-old finished just 5.55 seconds in front of a Russian. Armstrong also won in Beijing and London. Armstrong joins speedskater Bonnie Blair as the only American women to win three gold medals in the same event at any Olympics.

Olympics – Diving
American Sam Dorman and Mike Hixon won the silver medal in men’s 3-meter synchronized springboard diving.  They finished four points behind the gold medalists from Britain.  Favored China took the bronze.

Olympics – Beach Volleyball
In beach volleyball, Americans Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross have finished the Olympic group stage unbeaten, but not before losing their first set of the Summer Games. The U.S. women beat Switzerland 21-13, 22-24, 15-12 to win their pool with a 3-0 record. The round-of-16 begins Friday.

Olympics – Boxing
Nico Hernandez is assured of at least a bronze medal in boxing after beating Ecuador’s Carlos Quipo to improve to 3-0.  The medal will be the first in the Olympic boxing tournament for the United States since 2008.

Olympics – Field Hockey
The United States women’s field hockey team has advanced to the Olympic quarterfinals after defeating Japan 6-1.

The American beach volleyball team of Jake Gibb and Casey Patterson has been eliminated from the Olympics on a tiebreaker. They are the first U.S men’s team to fail to advance out of pool play in beach volleyball since the 2004 Games in Athens.

NFL – National Football League Preseason
Tonight
Denver Broncos at Chicago Bears, 8:00 p.m.
Washington Redskins at Atlanta Falcons, 7:00 p.m.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Philadelphia Eagles, 7:00 p.m.
New Orleans Saints at New England Patriots, 7:30 p.m.
Carolina Panthers at Baltimore Ravens, 7:30 p.m.
Jacksonville Jaguars at New York Jets, 7:30 p.m.

NFL – Steelers, Lions wrap up productive joint practices
The last thing the Pittsburgh Steelers and Detroit Lions wanted from their two-day joint training camp practices was a fight.  Instead of inefficient, fight-filled workouts, the Steelers and Lions went through a pair of intense, yet productive practices, featuring only a few minor skirmishes on the second day, heading into their preseason opener Friday night at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.  “It’s just good to get some unfamiliar faces and some unfamiliar schemes to really test us,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “The benefit of it is unbelievable.”  The Steelers previously hosted Buffalo at St. Vincent College in 2014, but it was the first joint training camp practice for the Lions since 2000 against Carolina.  “You get an even more realistic look, rather than waiting until the first preseason game,” Lions coach Jim Caldwell said. “The intensity of the practice, I think when you’re working against someone you haven’t worked against, it automatically takes it up.”  The practices didn’t feature any live tackling between the two teams and Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was excused from the first session Tuesday. He worked out on Wednesday.

NFL – Bears sign offensive lineman Adams, waive OL Becton
The Chicago Bears have signed offensive lineman Mike Adams and waived offensive lineman Nick Becton.  Adams sat out last season with a back injury after making 20 starts with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2012 to 2014. Becton has appeared in six games for the San Diego Chargers (2013), New Orleans Saints (2014) and Chicago Bears (2015). The Bears announced the moves Wednesday. Chicago hosts Denver in the preseason opener tonight.

NFL – Warrant issued for Andre Rison in child support case
A judge in Michigan has signed an arrest warrant for former NFL player Andre Rison, who is accused of violating his probation in a child support case.  The warrant signed Tuesday by federal Judge Linda Parker says Rison recently tested positive for marijuana and has failed to keep up with minimum support payments. In 2013, Rison was ordered to pay at least $1,000 a month to whittle away at a past balance of more than $300,000. No attorney is listed in the court file. Rison, a Flint native, was a star receiver at Michigan State. He played for seven NFL teams from 1989 to 2000, including a season with the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers. He’s lately been a high school coach in Flint and Ann Arbor.

NCAA Football – Eastern Michigan to begin bag policy at athletic venues
Eastern Michigan University is limiting the types of bags fans can bring into athletic venues during the upcoming school year. The Ypsilanti school says clear tote bags smaller than 12 inches by 6 inches by 12 inches and one-gallon plastic freezer bags will be allowed inside Rynearson Stadium and other campus venues.   Larger clear and non-clear totes, large bags and backpacks are prohibited. Small hand-held clutch purses will be permitted. All bags will be subject to search and inspection. The school says the policy is meant to provide a safer environment for the public while expediting fan entry into stadiums. Eastern Michigan also says it is consistent with similar policies at NFL stadiums.

MWL – Midwest League Baseball
Last Night
No games scheduled

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