Weekday Morning Sports Report – Monday 8/5/19

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sportsreport-300x207-75

MLB – Major League Baseball
Last Night
Texas Rangers 9, Detroit Tigers 4
Chicago White Sox 10, Philadelphia Phillies 5
Chicago Cubs 7, Milwaukee Brewers 2

Rangers 9, Tigers 4 – Calhoun’s 3-run triple keys Rangers in 9-4 win over Tigers
Willie Calhoun hit a tiebreaking three-run triple in the seventh inning, and the Texas Rangers beat the Detroit Tigers 9-4 on Sunday to finish a three-game sweep.  Calhoun pulled a 2-0 pitch from Nick Ramirez just inside the right-field line and into the corner. Calhoun later scored on a wild pitch. José Cisnero (0-3) walked the first two batters of the seventh and was replaced by Ramirez with two outs.  Rafael Montero (1-0) closed with 2 1/3 scoreless innings for his first major league win since September 2017 with the New York Mets. Texas’ four-game win streak is its longest since a six-game streak in late June.  The Tigers went 2-8 on a 10-game road trip.

White Sox 10, Phillies 5 – Garcia slam, Jimenez 3-run shot lead White Sox past Phillies
Leury Garcia hit a grand slam, Eloy Jiménez added a three-run shot and Tim Anderson also went deep to lead the Chicago White Sox to a 10-5 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday.  The Phillies are still in the NL wild-card hunt but lost two of three at home to the below-.500 White Sox. Not even appearances by Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Pedro Martinez and the rest of the 2009 NL champions could inspire the Phillies and they trailed all the way against Reynaldo Lopez (6-9) and three relievers.  Drew Smyly (2-6) allowed five runs in the second inning, four of them on Garcia’s 431-foot blast that landed just shy of the outfield concourse. Garcia’s seventh homer of the season was his first career grand slam.

Cubs 7, Brewers 2 – Heyward, Darvish lead Cubs to sweep of Brewers with 7-2 win
Jason Heyward drove in three runs, Yu Darvish pitched five effective innings and the Chicago Cubs beat the slumping Milwaukee Brewers 7-2 on Sunday to sweep their weekend series.  Heyward and Kyle Schwarber homered as the NL Central leaders won for the 11th time in 13 games at Wrigley Field. Anthony Rizzo collected four hits.  Christian Yelich hit his major league-best 37th homer for Milwaukee, which has dropped four straight and six of seven. The third-place Brewers trail the Cubs by four games.  Milwaukee rookie Trent Grisham picked up his first major league hit in the first and his first homer in the eighth. He went 3 for 4 in his third big league game.  Darvish (4-5) allowed one run and five hits, struck out eight and walked none.

Tonight
Chicago White Sox (Giolito 11-5) at Detroit (Turnbull 3-9), 7:10 p.m.  WSJM Sports/Cosy-FM 6:45
Oakland (Bassitt 7-5) at Chicago Cubs (Hendricks 8-8), 8:05 p.m.

MLB – Cubs shelve Contreras
The Chicago Cubs are spending time without catcher Willson Contreras, placing him on the injured list with a strained right hamstring suffered while running out a fly ball Saturday against the Brewers. He will undergo an MRI Monday to determine the severity of the injury. Chicago recalled receiver Taylor Davis to replace the 27-year-old Contreras, who is batting .275 with 19 homers and 57 RBIs in 87 games this season.

NFL – Jordy Nelson retiring as Packer
Veteran wide receiver Jordy Nelson is retiring as a member of the Green Bay Packers. The 34-year-old Nelson played in Green Bay from 2008-2017, winning a Super Bowl with the team before spending last season with the Oakland Raiders. Nelson had 550 receptions and 69 touchdown catches in his 10 seasons in Green Bay. He made the Pro Bowl in 2014, missed the 2015 season with a knee injury and was named the 2016 Comeback Player of the Year. He played in 15 games for Oakland last year, finishing with 63 receptions for 739 yards and three TDs.

NFL – Riddick signs with Denver
Free agent running back Theo Riddick has signed with the Broncos after his surprise release by the Lions last month. Riddick had 285 catches over six seasons in Detroit and 14 career touchdown receptions.


NASCAR – Elliott repeats at the Glen
Chase Elliott has earned his second straight victory at Watkins Glen, once again holding off Martin Truex Jr. to become the first repeat winner at The Glen since Marcos Ambrose in 2011-12. It was a two-car race for more than half the 220.5-mile distance and the entire final 40 laps. Elliott started from the pole and led 80 of 90 laps in snapping a long slump. Denny Hamlin was third, followed by Erik Jones and Ryan Blaney.

Golf – Western Am – NHL Referee Wins 117th Western Amateur
Garrett Rank, of Ontario, Canada, beat the odds to win the 117th Western Amateur at Point O’ Woods Golf & Country Club on Saturday.  The 31-year-old Rank, an NHL referee, earned the George R. Thorne Trophy with a 3 and 2 victory over Daniel Wetterich, of Cincinnati, Ohio. The last mid-amateur to win the Western Amateur was Danny Green in 1997 at The Point, which was hosting the tournament this week for the first time since 2008.  Rank, who finished fifth at 6 under in stroke play on Thursday, trailed in all four of his matches. He was 1 down after five in the final, but took the lead with a birdie at No. 7. Rank went 2 up after making a birdie on the ninth.  A native of Elmira, Ontario, Rank played golf and hockey growing up and earned scholarships in both sports to University of Waterloo in Ontario. After being diagnosed with testicular cancer in his second year of college, he quit hockey and focused on golf.  In 2012, Rank was the runner-up to Nathan Smith at the U.S. Mid-Amateur at Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest, Illinois.

Golf – PGA – Poston gets first PGA win
J.T. Poston has won the Wyndham Championship for his first PGA Tour title, shooting an 8-under 62 for a one-stroke victory over Webb Simpson. Poston tied Henrik Stenson’s 2-year-old tournament record at 22-under 258. He became the first player since Lee Trevino in 1974 to win a 72-hole stroke-play event on tour without any bogeys or worse. The native North Carolinian began his round three strokes back and eventually took the lead for good with a birdie on the par-5 15th.

Golf – LPGA – Shibuno wins Women’s British Open
Japan’s Hinako Shibuno wrapped up her stunning major championship debut by closing with a birdie to earn a one-shot win over American Lizette Salas at the Women’s British Open. The 20-year-old Japan LPGA Tour rookie birdied five of the final nine holes for a 4-under 68 and 18-under 270 overall. Jin Young Ko fell short in her bid for a third major title after winning the Evian Championship last week, finishing third following a 66.

NCAAFB – Saban says he never offered job to fired OSU assistant
Alabama coach Nick Saban says he never offered ex-Ohio State assistant Zach Smith a job. Saban says he interviewed Smith for a position in 2018 but opted to hire someone else after conducting a background check. Meyer fired Smith in July 2018 after the domestic violence allegations. Ohio State investigated Meyer and suspended him for mishandling previous issues involving Smith. Meyer retired from Ohio State after the 2018 season.

ECHL – Kalamazoo extends development deal with Vancouver
Vancouver Canucks General Manager Jim Benning made the announcement that the Canucks and the Kalamazoo Wings have extended their development deal for another two seasons.  The deal is for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.  The affiliations also includes the Utica (NY) Comets of the American Hockey League.    Kalamazoo has spent the last two seasons as the Canucks affiliate.

MWL – Midwest League Baseball
Last Night
Fort Wayne 8, West Michigan 0
South Bend 8, Great Lakes 6
Lansing at Bowling Green, ppd.

Today
Lansing at Bowling Green, 6:05 p.m. (DH)
Great Lakes at South Bend, 7:05 p.m.
West Michigan at Fort Wayne, 7:05 p.m.