Weekday Morning Sports – Friday 5/25/18

sportsreport-446
sportsreport-446

Golf – 2018 SPGA – Nevada club pro tied for Senior PGA Championship lead
Nevada club pro Stuart Smith shot a 5-under 66 for a share of the first-round lead in the Senior PGA Championship.  Smith closed his morning round with a double bogey on the par-4 18th. Scott McCarron, Tim Petrovic, Wes Short Jr., Barry Lane and Peter Lonard matched the 66 in the afternoon. Smith is the director of golf at Somersett Country Club in Reno. He is one of 41 club pros in the field at Harbor Shores for the senior major.  The top two money winners on the PGA Tour Champions are not in Benton Harbor. Defending champion Bernhard Langer is skipping the event to attend son Jason’s high school graduation, and Steve Stricker is playing the PGA Tour event in Texas.  Paul Goydos, a five-time senior winner including the 2016 Charles Schwab Cup Championship, and Chris Williams of South Africa shot 67. Joe Durant, David Toms, Kenny Perry, Jerry Pate and Fred Funk were among 15 players at 68.  Colin Montgomerie, who won the first of consecutive Senior PGA titles here in 2014, shot 69, and Miguel Angel Jimenez, coming off a win last week in the first major of the year at the Regions Tradition, opened with a 70.

MLB – Major League Baseball
Last Night
Baltimore Orioles 9, Chicago White Sox 3
Cubs and Tigers were off

Orioles 9, White Sox 3 – Bundy fans 14, tosses 2-hitter to lead O’s past Chisox 9-3
Backed by a bunch of runs right away, Dylan Bundy dominated.  Bundy struck out a career-high 14 and pitched a two-hitter for his second complete game in the majors, leading the Baltimore Orioles over the Chicago White Sox 9-3 on Thursday.  Adam Jones and Trey Mancini hit solo home runs as Baltimore jumped ahead 9-0 after three innings. Jones and Manny Machado each had three hits, and catcher Chance Sisco drove in three runs for the last-place Orioles, who won for just the third time in nine games and improved to 6-21 on the road.  Jose Rondon hit a three-run homer with two outs in the fourth for the first hit off Bundy. It was Rondon’s second career homer and second in two days.

Tonight
San Francisco (Holland 2-5) at Chicago Cubs (Hendricks 3-3), 2:20 p.m.
Chicago White Sox (Lopez 1-3) at Detroit (Fiers 4-3), 7:10 p.m.  WSJM Sports/Cosy-FM 6:45

MLB – Carlos Rodon appears OK after taking line drive off forehead
Chicago White Sox left-hander Carlos Rodon was removed from a minor league rehab start Thursday after being hit in the forehead by a line drive.  Rodon was pitching for Triple-A Charlotte as he works back from offseason shoulder surgery. He fell to the ground, but bounced up quickly after being struck by D’Arby Myers’ comebacker in the third inning.  Rodon removed his hat and checked his forehead for blood — he didn’t appear to be bleeding — as a team trainer ran to the mound. He seemed to want to remain in the game, but was led off by the trainer.  The 25-year-old Rondon struck out six in 2 2/3 scoreless innings. It was his second minor league rehab outing and first at Triple-A.  Third baseman Jake Elmore made an impressive over-the-shoulder catch on the play after the ball deflected off Rodon’s head and behind third base.

MLB – Welington Castillo of White Sox banned 80 games for EPO test
Chicago White Sox catcher Welington Castillo has been suspended for 80 games by Major League Baseball following a positive test for a performance-enhancing substance. The commissioner’s office says he tested positive for EPO, a hormone that stimulates the red blood cell production. Castillo accepted the penalty without contesting it before arbitrator Mark Irvings. The discipline stemmed from an in-season test, and he became the eighth player suspended this year under the major league drug-testing program.  Castillo is in his ninth major league season. The 31-year-old Dominican is batting .267 with six homers and 15 RBIs this year on a team that is 15-31.  Barring rainouts, he would be eligible to return Aug. 24 at Detroit. He would lose $3,547,043 of his $7.25 million salary, which covers the period of 80 games plus the 11 off-days during that span.

NBA – 2018 NBA Playoffs – Conference Finals – (Best of 7)
Last Night
Houston Rockets 98, Golden State Warriors 94                          HOU leads 3-2

Rockets 98, Warriors 94 – Gordon leads Rockets over Warriors 98-94 to take series lead
Eric Gordon came off the bench to score 24 points and his steal on Golden State’s last possession secured a 98-94 victory Thursday night that gave the Houston Rockets a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference finals.  The Rockets head into Game 6 on Saturday night in Oakland, California one win away from knocking off the defending champions and advancing to the NBA Finals for the first time since winning back-to-back titles in 1994-95.  Chris Paul scored 20 points and James Harden struggled for his 19, but Paul had to leave the game in the final minute with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.  Kevin Durant scored 29 points for the Warriors, who lost in Game 5 of a playoff series for just the second time since 2015.

Last Night
Boston Celtics at Cleveland Cavaliers, 8:30 p.m.                         BOS leads 3-2

NBA – James, Harden lead All-Stars
LeBron James has been unanimously selected to the All-NBA first team for a record 12th time, while Houston’s James Harden also appeared on all 100 first-team ballots.  They were joined on the first team by New Orleans’ Anthony Davis, Golden State’s Kevin Durant and Portland’s Damian Lillard. James passed Kobe Bryant and Karl Malone with the 12th first-team selection of his 15-year career. He also was a second-team selection twice.

NFL – Trump lauds NFL policy
President Donald Trump says the NFL is "doing the right thing" with a policy banning kneeling during the national anthem.  Trump spoke to "Fox & Friends" in an interview airing Thursday. The policy forbids players from sitting or taking a knee on the field during the anthem but allows them to stay in the locker room. Any violations of the new rules would result in fines against teams.  Trump says he doesn’t "think people should be standing in locker rooms," but he praised the plan overall.

Sports Betting – Suit: Leagues’ block of sports gambling cost racetrack $139M
A New Jersey horse racing association has sued the four major pro sports leagues and the NCAA over what it says is more than $130 million in lost sports betting revenue.  The suit filed Thursday in federal court claims the leagues acted in bad faith when they got a restraining order in 2014 to block Monmouth Park Racetrack from offering sports betting.  The suit claims Monmouth Park would’ve made $139 million in revenue between November 2014 and this month when a Supreme Court ruling allowed all states to authorize legal sports gambling.

WNBA – Women’s National Basketball Association
Last Night
Washington Mystics 93, Indiana Fever 84

Mystics 93, Fever 84 – Delle Donne scores 26 points, Mystics beat Fever 93-84
Elena Delle Donne had 26 points and 10 rebounds and Washington beat Indiana 93-84 on Thursday night for the Mystics’ second victory over the Fever in five days.  Kristi Toliver and Tianna Hawkins each added 13 points for Washington (3-0), which has won the past six games in the series. Monique Currie scored 12 points, and Tierra Ruffin-Pratt had 10.  Kelsey Mitchell, getting her first career start, scored 25 points for Indiana (0-4), which played its fourth game in six days.

Tonight
Chicago Sky at Seattle Storm, 10:00 p.m.

MWL – Midwest League Baseball
Yesterday
Lansing 6, South Bend 4
Fort Wayne 3, West Michigan 0
Bowling Green 5, Great Lakes 0

Tonight
Great Lakes at Lake County, 6:30 p.m.
Fort Wayne at Lansing, 7:05 p.m.
West Michigan at South Bend, 7:35 p.m.

NCAABB – College Baseball – Big Ten Tournament
Yesterday
Purdue 5, Michigan 4
Indiana 6, Michigan State 5 – 10 Innings              (Elimination Game)

Purdue 5, Michigan 4 – Freak play lifts Purdue to 5-4 win over Michigan in Big Ten
Milo Beam reached third base on a freak play in the bottom of the ninth inning and scored on Evan Warden’s single to give Purdue a 5-4 walk-off win over Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament. William Tribucher walked Beam on a wild pitch, and Beam didn’t hesitate to take second as catcher
Harrison Salter had trouble finding the ball. Tribucher intentionally walked the next two batters to set up forces all around before Warden sent a chopper up the middle to win the game.

Indiana 6, Michigan State 5 – F/10 – Indiana beats Michigan State 6-5 in 10 innings in Big Ten
Wyatt Cross’ bloop single scored Cole Barr from second base in the bottom of the 10th inning to give Indiana a 6-5 win over Michigan State in a Big Ten Tournament elimination game. The Hoosiers had tied it in the bottom of the ninth on Matt Gorski’s two-out, three-run homer off Mitchell Tyranski. Barr singled off Mike Mokma in the 10th, stole second and beat the throw home when Cross flared a ball into short left.

Today
Michigan vs. Ohio State, 3:30 p.m.                       (Elimination Game)

MHSAA – High School Sports
Yesterday
Baseball
St. Joseph 4, Battle Creek Lakeview 3 – Game 1
Battle Creek Lakeview 6, St. Joseph 2 – Game 2
River Valley 4, Lake Michigan Catholic 0 – Game 1
Lake Michigan Catholic 8, River Valley 1 – Game 2
Bridgman 8, New Buffalo 3 – Game 1
Bridgman 11, New Buffalo 7 – Game 2
Lawrence 12, Bloomingdale 5
Decatur 7, Gobles 1 – Game 1
Gobles 10, Decatur 3 – Game 2
Dowagiac 9, Cassopolis 0 – Game 1
Dowagiac 11, Cassopolis 3 – Game 2

Softball
St. Joseph 15, Dowagiac 1 – Game 1
St. Joseph 13, Dowagiac 3 – Game 2
Lakeshore 1, Mattawan 0 – Game 1
Lakeshore 10, Mattawan 8 – Game 2
South Haven 5, Watervliet 4 – Game 1
Watervliet 4, South Haven 3 – Game 2
Edwardsburg 6, Coloma 2 – Game 1
Edwardsburg 10, Coloma 5 – Game 2

Girls Soccer
Buchanan 4, Bangor 4 – TIE
Otsego 6, South Haven 0
Kalamazoo Loy Norrix 3, Three Rivers 1

Today
Baseball
Michigan Lutheran at Benton Harbor, 4:00 p.m. (DH)
Niles at Berrien Springs, 4;15 p.m.
Marcellus at Lawrence, 4:30 p.m.

Softball
Michigan Lutheran at Benton Harbor, 4:00 p.m. (DH)
Lakeshore at Portage Central, 4:00 p.m.
Marcellus at Lawrence, 4:30 p.m.

Girls Soccer
Lake Michigan Catholic at Cassopolis, 5:00 p.m.