Weekday Morning Sports – Monday 6/5/17

sportsreport-223
sportsreport-223

95.7 & 1400 WSJM Sports     @wsjmsports     wsjmsports.com     Monday, June 05, 2017

NBA – 2017 NBA Final (best of 7) – Game 2
Last Night
Golden State Warriors 132, Cleveland Cavaliers 113                            (GSW leads 2-0)

Warriors 132, Cavaliers 113 – Curry, Durant lead Warriors to 2-0 lead with 132-113 rout
Stephen Curry had a triple double with 33 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, Kevin Durant scored 33 and the Golden State Warriors took a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals with a 132-113 victory in Game 2 on Sunday night. The big nights from the former MVPs made coach Steve Kerr a winner in his return to the bench after a more than six-week absence following complications from back surgery.  This marks the second straight year Golden State won the first two games of the Finals. Cleveland rallied to win last year’s series in seven games. LeBron James had 29 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists to tie Magic Johnson’s record with his eighth career Finals triple-double. It was just the second time in NBA playoff history two players had triple-doubles in the same game. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then Lew Alcindor) and Walt Frazier did it in 1970. 

MLB – Major League Baseball
Last Night
Detroit Tigers 7, Chicago White Sox 4
Chicago Cubs 7, St. Louis Cardinals 6

Tigers 7, White Sox 4 – Upton’s homer gives Tigers 7-4 win over White Sox
Justin Upton hit a game-ending, three-run homer, and the Detroit Tigers overcame Justin Verlander’s groin injury to beat the Chicago White Sox 7-4 on Sunday for a sweep of their weekend series. Nick Castellanos was hit by a pitch from David Robertson (3-2) leading off the Detroit ninth. Second baseman Yolmer Sanchez then misplayed a potential double-play ball and was only able to get Miguel Cabrera at first. J.D. Martinez was intentionally walked to get to Upton, who drove a 1-2 curveball over the wall in left for his 11th homer. Martinez also connected for the Tigers, who have won four straight and five of six to move back to .500 at 28-28. Justin Wilson (3-1) picked up the win with a scoreless inning.

Cubs 7, Cardinals 6 – Happ’s 2 HRs, Jay’s RBI single lead Cubs over Cardinals 7-6
an Happ hit two homers, pinch hitter Jon Jay drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh with a single and the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-6 on Sunday night to complete a three-game sweep. Happ staked Chicago to a 6-4 lead with a solo homer in the third and a three-run drive in the fourth against Michael Wacha. Jay, batting for reliever Pedro Strop (2-2), broke a 6-6 tie with his two-out single off Matt Bowman (1-2) in the seventh. Anthony Rizzo had three hits and scored the go-ahead run, and the Cubs (28-27) moved back over .500 with their 10th home win in 12 games. They also swept three from the Cardinals at Wrigley Field for the first time since 2006, and they did it after an 0-6 trip to the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego. Stephen Piscotty hit a three-run homer in the fourth off Kyle Hendricks.

Tonight
Miami (Straily 4-3) at Chicago Cubs (Butler 2-1), 8:05 p.m.
White Sox and Tigers are off

MLB – Tigers’ Justin Verlander leaves with right groin tightness
Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander left Sunday’s start against the Chicago White Sox in the third inning with tightness in his right groin.  Detroit announced the move was made as a precaution. Verlander struggled through 66 pitches over two-plus innings. He struck out Tim Anderson with the bases loaded to end the first inning after allowing one run, then left the bases full when he fanned Avisail Garcia to end a scoreless second.  Verlander was checked by head athletic trainer Kevin Rand in the second and again in the third after Todd Frazier led off with a home run and Yolmer Sanchez walked on four pitches. Warwick Saupold relieved with Chicago leading 2-0. It was Verlander’s shortest start since he only went one inning against Pittsburgh on Aug. 11, 2014, and the fourth of his big league career in which he did not get an out in the third.

NHL – 2017 Stanley Cup Final (best of 7) – Game 4
Tonight
Pittsburgh Penguins at Nashville Predators, 8:00 p.m.                          (PIT leads 2-1)

NHL – Pens center Nick Bonino tests injured foot, still day to day
Pittsburgh center Nick Bonino tested his injured left foot by skating with teammates, and now he has to wait and see how it reacts before deciding if he might be available Monday night for Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final. Bonino said Sunday that he felt OK but remains day to day. He says he wanted to move around a little bit to see what happens. He took a slap shot from Nashville defenseman P.K. Subban off the inside of his left foot and ankle in Game 2. The Penguins could have used the veteran penalty killer after the Predators went 2 of 3 on the power play in winning 5-1 and pulling within 2-1 in the series.

NASCAR – Johnson extends track record with 11th win at Dover
Jimmie Johnson sped off on the final restart and earned another slice of NASCAR history, winning at Dover for the 11th time and moving into a tie for sixth on the career victories list. Johnson again made history Sunday at his favorite track _ and he worked hard to take this checkered flag. He was forced to start from the rear of the field because of a gear change, then zipped past Kyle Larson in overtime on the final restart. Johnson tied Hall of Fame driver Cale Yarborough for sixth on the career wins list with 83. Johnson may have had a sense history was ahead in the No. 48 Chevrolet. He wore a helmet painted in tribute to Yarborough. He tweeted this weekend, “Growing up in El Cajon I never imagined I would have a chance to tie Cale in wins.”  Johnson also joined Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip as the only drivers to win at the same track 11 times.

IndyCar – Graham Rahal sweeps Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader
Graham Rahal completed a doubleheader sweep in the Detroit Grand Prix on Sunday to become IndyCar’s first two-time winner this season.  Rahal’s Honda-power car finished 1.17 seconds ahead of Josef Newgarden’s Chevrolet, a day after getting to the checkered flag six-plus seconds ahead of the competition.  The Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver pulled away for the victory after a single-file final restart with two laps to go in the 70-lap race on Belle Isle course. Rahal became the first to sweep in Detroit since it began hosting doubleheaders in 2013. He became the first to win two IndyCar races in a weekend since Scott Dixon pulled off the feat four years ago in Toronto.

Tennis – French Open – Djokovic advances; Williams, Isner lose
Defending champion Novak Djokovic has advanced to the quarterfinals of the French Open for the eighth straight year. The second-seeded Serb beat 19th-seeded Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6, 6-1, 6-3 in the final match of the day.  Among other action Sunday: Venus Williams lost in the fourth round of the French Open to 30th-seeded Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland, meaning the tournament will produce a first-time Grand Slam champion. Bacsinszky won 5-7, 6-2, 6-1. It’s the second year in a row that she beat Williams in the fourth round in Paris.   No. 21 John Isner fell to unseeded Russian Karen Khachanov 7-6, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6,

Golf – Jason Dufner bounces back to win the Memorial
Jason Dufner never lost sight of the big picture even after losing a big lead. It paid off when he made a 30-foot par putt on the final hole that wrapped up his victory in the Memorial. Dufner lost a five-shot lead Saturday. He started Sunday four shots behind. And then he kept his composure through two rain delays and closed with a 4-under 68 to get that handshake with host Jack Nicklaus. Four players had at least a share of the lead in a final round in which seven players were in the hunt. Dufner saved his best golf for the back nine. Not only did he hit every green until the 18th, all but one of his birdie chances were from 12 feet or in.

MWL – Midwest League Baseball
Last Night
Lansing 8, West Michigan 6
South Bend 5, Lake County 3
Great Lakes 11, Bowling Green 0

Tonight
No games tonight