Weekday Morning Sports – Tuesday 7/18/17

sportsreport-252
sportsreport-252

95.7 & 1400 WSJM Sports     @wsjmsports     wsjmsports.com     Tuesday, July 18, 2017

MLB – Major League Baseball
Yesterday
Detroit Tigers 10, Kansas City Royals 2
Chicago Cubs 4, Atlanta Braves 3
White Sox were off

Tigers 10, Royals 2 – Zimmermann, home runs send Tigers to 10-2 rout of Royals
Jordan Zimmermann threw just about every pitch against Kansas City for a strike Monday night.  The Tigers’ veteran starter pounded the zone in a dominant performance against the Royals, and backed by long home runs from Nicholas Castellanos and Mikie Mahtook, he helped Detroit to a 10-2 rout to open a four-game series between AL Central rivals.  The dominance was partly a result of first-pitch strikes to 24 of the 28 batters he faced, which helped Zimmermann (6-7) snap a personal three-game skid with his first win since June 3.  Eric Hosmer homered in the eighth for Kansas City. Whit Merrifield also drove in a run.

Cubs 4, Braves 3 – Jon Lester dominant as Cubs hold off Braves 4-3
Jon Lester bounced back from the shortest start of his career by allowing only one run in seven innings and Chicago stopped Atlanta’s ninth-inning comeback to give the Cubs a 4-3 win over the Braves on Monday night.  The Cubs led 4-1 before Atlanta scored two runs in the ninth off Davis. The game ended with the bases loaded. Wade Davis allowed one-out singles to Brandon Phillips and Freddie Freeman before Phillips scored from third on a wild pitch. Johan Camargo’s fly ball to shallow left ended the game.  Ben Zobrist gave Chicago a 2-1 lead with a two-run single in the fifth. Anthony Rizzo hit his 23rd homer to center in the seventh, and Addison Russell drove in Javier Baez with a pinch-hit double in the eighth.

Tonight
Chicago Cubs (Lackey 5-9) at Atlanta (Newcomb 1-4), 7:35 p.m.
L.A. Dodgers (Kershaw 14-2) at Chicago White Sox (Gonzalez 4-8), 8:10 p.m.
Detroit (Boyd 2-5) at Kansas City (Wood 1-2), 8:15 p.m.   WSJM Sports/Cosy-FM 7:50

MLB – Hendricks goes 5 perfect innings in rehab start
Chicago Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks threw five perfect innings Monday while making his second rehab appearance for Double-A Tennessee. Hendricks, who led the majors last year with a 2.13 ERA for the World Series champions, was optimistic he could be ready to rejoin the Cubs. Hendricks hasn’t pitched for Chicago since June 4 because of tendinitis in his right hand.

NHL – Campbell announces his retirement after 17 NHL seasons<
Defenseman Brian Campbell is retiring at age 38 after playing 17 NHL seasons and winning the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010. Campbell announced his retirement Monday. The Blackhawks say he’ll join their front office, assisting with community and youth hockey initiatives and marketing.  Campbell had 87 goals and 417 assists for 504 points in 1,082 regular-season games with the Buffalo Sabres, San Jose Sharks, Blackhawks and Florida Panthers. Buffalo drafted him in the sixth round in 1997. The Blackhawks signed Campbell to a $57.14 million, eight-year contract in 2008, and he played almost 20 minutes a game during their Cup run before a salary-cap crunch led to a trade to the Florida Panthers in 2011. He finished his career in Chicago.

WNBA – Women’s National Basketball Association
Yesterday
Los Angeles Sparks 80, Indiana Fever 62

Sparks 80, Fever 62 – Sparks hand Fever 5th straight loss, 80-62
Chelsea Gray scored 16 points while Nneka Ogwumike added 14 points and 12 rebounds to help the Los Angeles Sparks beat the Indiana Fever 80-62 on Monday night. Briann January scored 12 points for Indiana (7-12), which has lost five straight.

Tonight
Chicago Sky at Seattle Storm, 9:00 p.m.

NFL – Steelers-Bell, Redskins-Cousins fail to reach long-term deal
Two former MSU Spartans couldn’t agree to a new contract with their perspective NFL Clubs.   The Pittsburgh Steelers and star running back Le’Veon Bell failed to reach an agreement on a long-term contract, meaning Bell will play on a one-year tender this season.  Pittsburgh placed the franchise tag on Bell in March and had until Monday afternoon to work out a new deal. Bell instead will make $12.1 million this season, the average of the five highest-paid running backs in the league. Bell could become an unrestricted free agent next spring or the Steelers could place
the franchise tag on him a second time.  Kirk Cousins will play a second consecutive season on the franchise tag. The Washington Redskins confirmed no agreement with the quarterback on a long-term deal by the  4 p.m. EDT Monday deadline. Cousins will make $23.94 million on the franchise tag in 2017 after $19.95 million last year. The 28-year-old is going into his third full season as Washington’s starter. He set franchise records with 4,166 and 4,917 yards the past two seasons.

NFL – Panthers fire GM
The Carolina Panthers have fired general manager Dave Gettleman less than two weeks before the opening of training camp. Team owner Jerry Richardson said Monday in a statement he made the decision after a long evaluation of the team’s football operations. Richardson also acknowledged the timing is not ideal as the Panthers are scheduled to report to camp on July 26. Gettleman had been Carolina’s general manager since 2013.

NCAA Basketball – Michigan St basketball strength coach in crash that kills 2
Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo is offering condolences to the family of two people who were killed in a crash that involved the team’s strength coach. Monroe County authorities say a pickup truck driven by Todd Moyer struck the rear of a car Friday on U.S. 23 in southeastern Michigan. Gladys Johnson and her 5-year-old daughter were killed. At least two more cars were involved in the crash. Alcohol wasn’t a factor. Seat belts were used.  Izzo says he "can’t imagine the pain" of the victim’s family. Moyer’s status with the team hasn’t changed, although Izzo says he’s "monitoring the situation." The sheriff’s office is investigating the crash.  The 37-year-old Moyer couldn’t be reached for comment Monday. A phone number isn’t listed.

Tennis – Federer up to ATP No. 3 after Wimbledon; Muguruza WTA No. 5
Roger Federer’s eighth Wimbledon title has pushed him back up to No. 3 in the ATP rankings after ending last season at No. 16. And, because Federer sat out the last half of 2016, his points will only continue to accumulate, making a return to No. 1 a real possibility.  Garbine Muguruza’s first championship at the All England Club returned her to the WTA’s top 10 at No. 5, a rise of 10 spots, while runner-up Venus Williams goes from No. 11 to No. 9. Karolina Pliskova became the 23rd woman to be ranked No. 1, a debut for her that was guaranteed last week, based on results at Wimbledon. She had been No. 3, and swaps positions with former No. 1 Angelique Kerber. Serena Williams has not competed since January because she is pregnant. By losing rankings points she earned last year, including a title at Wimbledon and runner-up finish at the French Open, she has gone from No. 4 to No. 15.

MWL – Midwest League Baseball
Last Night
South Bend 2, Cedar Rapids 1
West Michigan 6, Quad Cities 2
Lansing 4, Wisconsin 3, 12 innings
Great Lakes 5, Beloit 2

Tonight
No games tonight