Weekday Morning Sports Report – Tuesday 6/19/18

MLB – Major League Baseball
Yesterday
Cleveland Indians 6, Chicago White Sox 2
Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago Cubs, PPD Rain/Power Failure
Tigers were off

Indians 6, White Sox 2 – Bauer, Indians beat skidding White Sox 6-2
Trevor Bauer pitched seven scoreless innings before a rain delay ended his night, and Jason Kipnis homered to lead the Cleveland Indians to a 6-2 win over the sliding and sloppy Chicago White Sox on Monday.  Bauer (6-5) allowed just three hits, struck out eight and was in line to potentially pitch his first career shutout. However, after the game was halted in the seventh for 35 minutes, manager Terry Francona pulled the right-hander following the delay.  Not before Bauer pleaded his case.   Roberto Perez drove in two runs off Dylan Covey (3-2) as Cleveland improved to 15-4 in its last 19 home games against Chicago.  The White Sox committed three errors — one by Covey — in the first three innings, lost their fifth straight and dropped a season-high 23 games under .500.  Matt Davidson homered in the ninth for Chicago.  White Sox manager Rick Renteria felt Covey deserved better.

Dodgers at Cubs, PPD – Dodgers-Cubs postponed by rain, power outage
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs waited and waited and waited Monday night. When the lights malfunctioned again and the forecast called for more rain, they finally said enough.  The rematch of the last two NL Championship Series was postponed by a mixture of poor weather and a limited power outage at Wrigley Field. It will be made up Tuesday afternoon as part of a day-night doubleheader.  It was sunny and hot in Chicago for most of Monday, but clouds began to roll into the area about two hours before the scheduled first pitch. An initial downpour stopped at one point and the grounds crew pulled the tarp off the field, only to put it back on after a short stretch.  There was also trouble with three banks of lights on the first-base side of the iconic 104-year-old ballpark that went on and off a couple times, in addition to some lights in the stands on the third-base side that were out when the game was called after a nearly 3-hour delay.  "It appears to be a limited power outage in the ballpark which is impacting the right-field light operation," Cubs spokesman Julian Green said.  Green added they don’t know the root cause of the power outage, but it appears to be in the ballpark itself and not in the surrounding neighborhood. He said the plan is to have ballpark fully operational by the start of the first game on Tuesday.

Today
L.A. Dodgers (Maeda 4-4) at Chicago Cubs (Chatwood 3-5), 1:05 p.m. – Game 1
L.A. Dodgers (Hill 1-2) at Chicago Cubs (Montgomery 2-2), 8:05 p.m. – Game 2
Chicago White Sox (Rodon 0-1) at Cleveland (Clevinger 5-2), 7:10 p.m.
Detroit (Boyd 4-4) at Cincinnati (Romano 3-7), 7:10 p.m.            WSJM Sports/Cosy-FM 6:45

MLB – Dodgers LHP Kershaw eyes return after throwing sim game
The last time Clayton Kershaw pitched at Wrigley Field, the ace left-hander helped lead the Los Angeles Dodgers into the World Series.  It was a much different situation Monday. But still important for the Dodgers.  Kershaw threw a three-inning simulated game before Los Angeles’ series opener against the Chicago Cubs was postponed, taking another step forward in his recovery from a strained lower back. The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner said he felt really good and plans to pitch somewhere in four or five days, either in a minor league rehab start or for the Dodgers.  The 30-year-old Kershaw was sidelined for nearly a month with left biceps tendinitis before returning May 31 against Philadelphia. He tossed five effective innings in a no-decision against the Phillies, and then went back on the disabled list the next day with the back injury.  The Dodgers said over the weekend that Kershaw was headed for a simulated game Tuesday or Wednesday — in Los Angeles. But Kershaw said that was just one of the plans in the mix.

FIFA – World Cup 2018
Yesterday
Sweden 1, South Korea 0
Belgium 3, Panama 0
England 2, Tunisia 1

England 2, Tunisia 1 – Kane lifts England
Harry Kane’s second goal of the game came in stoppage time to lift England past Tunisia, 2-1 in the World Cup opener for both teams. Kane opened the scoring in the 11th minute, but the Tunisians were able to knot the score on a penalty kick in the 35th.

Today
Columbia vs. Japan, 8:00 a.m.
Poland vs. Senegal, 11:00 a.m.
Russia vs. Egypt, 2:00 p.m.

World Cup – Saudis have scary flight
Saudi team officials say the players made a safe landing after reported engine failure on their flight to Rostov-on-Don for a World Cup game against Uruguay. The team posted photos of the players exiting the plane and smiling Monday night but did not release further details of the engine problem.

NHL – Capitals coach unable to cash in on Cup, resigns
The NHL’s most recent Stanley Cup-winning coach is now a free agent.  Barry Trotz has stepped down less than two weeks after leading the Washington Capitals to their first championship. Trotz and the team could not agree on an annual salary that would have put him in line with other Cup-winning coaches.  A person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press that the Stanley Cup final win over Vegas triggered a two-year extension for Trotz that would have given him a slight bump in salary to just over $2 million. Mike Babcock is getting $6.25 from the Maple Leafs, and Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville makes $6 million after leading the club to three Stanley Cups in this decade.  Capitals associate coach Todd Reirden is now the leading candidate to replace Trotz. The New York Islanders are currently the only NHL team without a head coach.

NHL – Tippett joins NHL Seattle expansion group as senior adviser Former NHL coach Dave Tippett has signed on as senior adviser for the group looking to put an NHL expansion team in Seattle. The city is in the middle of the expansion process with the goal of renovating KeyArena and starting up for the 2020-21 season. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says the league’s board of governors could vote to approve a 32nd franchise as soon as this fall but has emphasized there is no specific timetable.

WNBA – Women’s National Basketball Association
Tonight
Chicago Sky at Washington Mystics, 7:00 p.m.
Indiana Fever at Los Angeles Sparks, 10;30 p.m.

MWL – Midwest League Baseball
Yesterday
No games last night

Tonight
2018 Midwest League All Star Game at Lansing
West Division vs. East Division, 7:05 p.m.