WSJM Morning Sports-06/30/2021

wsjm-2020-podcasts

MLB – Major League Baseball
Yesterday
Chicago White Sox 7, Minnesota Twins 6
Milwaukee Brewers 2, Chicago Cubs 1
Detroit Tigers at Cleveland Indians, PPD

White Sox 7, Twins 6 – Gavin Sheets delivers in debut, White Sox beat Twins 7-6
Gavin Sheets had two hits and two RBIs in his major league debut, helping Lucas Giolito and the Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins 7-6. Leury García also drove in two runs as Chicago increased its AL Central lead to 2 1/2 games over Cleveland. Giolito pitched six-plus innings of three-run ball in his first win in a month. Josh Donaldson hit a two-run homer for Minnesota, which had won seven of nine.

Brewers 2, Cubs 1 – Woodruff excels, Brewers edge Cubs 2-1 for 7th straight win
Brandon Woodruff pitched another gem and the Milwaukee Brewers made the most of their two hits, hanging on to edge the Chicago Cubs 2-1 for their season-high seventh straight win. A day after battering Chicago 14-4, the Brewers extended their NL Central lead to five games. The second-place Cubs lost their fifth in a row. Milwaukee managed to win with just an RBI double by Christian Yelich in the first inning and an RBI single by Jace Peterson in the fourth. Both runs were walked aboard by Zach Davies, who made his first start against his former team. Woodruff allowed one run on four hits in six innings, striking out eight and nudging his ERA down from 1.89 to 1.87.

Tigers at Indians – PPD – Tigers, Indians postponed, playing doubleheader on Wednesday
Following a lengthy delay at the start, Tuesday night’s game between the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians was postponed by rain. Both starting pitchers got warmed up in the bullpen and it appeared the second game of the series between the AL Central teams was set to start on time when the grounds crew brought out the tarp just minutes before the scheduled 7:10 p.m. first pitch. The game was rescheduled as part of a doubleheader on Wednesday, starting at 4 p.m. However, there is more rain in the forecast.

Today
Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee Brewers, 2:10 p.m.
Detroit Tigers at Cleveland Indians, 4:10 p.m. – Game 1              94.9 WSJM/103.7 Cosy-FM 3:50
Detroit Tigers at Cleveland Indians, 7:10 p.m. – Game 2              94.9 WSJM/103.7 Cosy-FM 6:50
Minnesota Twins at Chicago White Sox, 8:10 p.m.

MLB – White Sox place Lamb on IL with strained right quadriceps
The Chicago White Sox have placed Jake Lamb on the 10-day injured list and reinstated fellow outfielder Billy Hamilton from the IL. The White Sox also recalled first baseman Gavin Sheets from Triple-A Charlotte and optioned outfielder Luis González to their top farm club. The 30-year-old Lamb has a strained right quadriceps. He is batting .224 with five homers and 10 RBIs in 31 games in his first season with Chicago.

NBA – National Basketball Association Playoffs – Rd. 3 – Conference Finals – Best of 7
Last Night
Atlanta Hawks 110, Milwaukee Bucks 88                                    (Series tied 2-2)

Hawks 110, Bucks 88 – Hawks romp to 110-88 win without Young, Giannis goes down
The Atlanta Hawks proved they are more than a one-man team, shaking off Trae Young’s absence with a freak injury to even the Eastern Conference finals at two wins apiece with a 110-88 rout of the Milwaukee Bucks. And in another stunning twist to a series no one saw coming, two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo hobbled off the court with an injured left knee, depriving the Bucks of their best player. Lou Williams did a stellar job filling in for Young with 21 points and the Hawks pulled away in the third quarter. Game 4 is Thursday night in Milwaukee.

Tonight
Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Clippers, 9:00 p.m.                          (PHX leads 3-2)

NHL – 2021 NHL Stanley Cup Finals – Best of 7
Last Night
Montreal Canadiens at Tampa Bay Lightning, 8:00 p.m.                 (TBL Leads 1-0)

NHL – McDonough, Levy to lead ESPN’s team for NHL coverage
ESPN announced on Tuesday that Sean McDonough will be the lead announcer and will call the Stanley Cup Finals. McDonough has previously called hockey on ESPN and is back in a prime spot on one of the network’s lead packages after he called “Monday Night Football” in 2016-17. Steve Levy will also announce games but will be the studio host for the big games and the playoffs. He will be joined by Chris Chelios and Mark Messier. Senior Vice President of Production and Remote Events Mark Gross said the analysts who will be paired with McDonough have not been determined. Ray Ferraro, Brian Boucher and Kevin Weekes could be under consideration as all have experience working on the top teams at NBC, TSN or NHL Network.

NHL – Oilers’ McDavid doubles up as Hart, Lindsay award winner
Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid ran away in the voting to win his second Hart Trophy as NHL MVP after leading the league in points. McDavid joined Wayne Gretzky as the second unanimous Hart selection while receiving all 100 first-place votes from members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association. McDavid also won his third Ted Lindsay Award as the league’s most outstanding player, which is voted on by NHL players. Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury won the Vezina Trophy. New York Rangers’ Adam Fox won the Jack Norris Trophy as top defenseman. Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov won the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year.

WNBA – Women’s National Basketball Association
Tonight
Chicago Sky at Dallas Wings, 8:00 p.m.

Tennis – Wimbledon – Serena knocked out of Wimbledon by injury
Time is running out as Serena Williams continues her quest for a record-tying 24th Grand Slam singles title.  The 39-year-old Williams had to retire in the first set after she hurt her leg in an Wimbledon opening-round match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus. Williams slipped on the grass while hitting a forehand in the fifth game. She received a medical timeout and was in the seventh game when her knee buckled, causing her to crumple to the grass. She was in tears as she walked to the net to concede.  Williams hasn’t won a Slam since 2017, keeping her one off the record held by Margaret Court.  Meanwhile, Venus Williams reached the second round in her first match since the Australian Open. The 41-year-old Williams won in three sets.  Playing on grass for the first time in two years, top-ranked Ash Barty defeated Carla Suárez Navarro 6-1, 6-7, 6-1.

NCAAFB – Big Ten – Gophers football home gets new name: Huntington Bank Stadium
The home for Minnesota’s football games has a new name: Huntington Bank Stadium. The university’s board of regents has approved the change by a 9-2 vote. The 50,000-seat facility opened for the Gophers on campus in 2009 as TCF Bank Stadium. Huntington Bank’s acquisition of the Minnesota-founded TCF Bank was finalized earlier this month. The newly merged company will have headquarters in both Detroit and Columbus, Ohio. TCF bought the original naming rights for $35 million. That contract runs through the 2030 season. Huntington can extend it by 10 years for an additional $17.6 million.

NCAABSB – Mississippi St beats Vandy 13-2 to send CWS finals to Game 3
Houston Harding and Preston Johnson combined on a four-hitter and Mississippi State capitalized on struggling Vanderbilt pitching in a 13-2 victory that forced a third and deciding game in the College World Series finals. It also was Vandy’s most lopsided loss in its 29 all-time CWS games. MSU hadn’t won so easily in Omaha since beating Georgia Southern 15-1 in 1990. The Bulldogs broke things open with a four-run third inning and added five runs in the seventh. The Commodores issued a season-high 10 walks. The teams meet for the national championship on Wednesday night.

 NCAAMBB – NCAA puts TCU basketball on probation, punishes ex-assistant
The NCAA has placed the TCU men’s basketball program on three years’ probation. It has also punished a former assistant coach it says accepted $6,000 from a business management company and then lied to the school about it.  The case is the latest development in a federal corruption case tied to college basketball.  Former assistant Corey Barker was given a five-year show-cause penalty. That requires any school that employs him to prove to the NCAA he can perform athletic-related duties.

NCAA – NCAA’s NIL era arrives, some athletes are ready to cash in
A new era in college sports has arrived. For the first time, NCAA athletes will be permitted to profit from their fame. The transition has been anything but smooth. Seven states have laws set to go into effect Thursday designed to open up the market for athletes. The NCAA is on board with the idea of reforming its rules but is only in position to consider a temporary fix. At some point Congress is expected to step in and provide a law that brings uniformity across the country.

Cycling – Tour de France riders stage protest amid road safety debate
Tour de France riders have staged a protest at the start of Tuesday’s Stage four to complain about perceived dangerous racing conditions at the sport’s showcase event. A flurry of crashes in the opening stages has reignited the issue of road safety in cycling. Two top contenders for the yellow jersey — last year’s runner-up Primoz Roglic and 2018 champion Geraint Thomas — were involved in crashes on Monday, losing ground to their main rivals. Saturday’s opening stage was also marred by two big pileups, one caused by a spectator holding a cardboard sign in the way of the peloton.

New lawsuit: More men were abused by Ohio State doctor
Twenty-nine more men are suing Ohio State University over its failure to stop sexual abuse decades ago by team doctor Richard Strauss, who died in 2005. One plaintiff in the federal lawsuit filed Monday says Strauss abused him during more than 10 medical exams in the 1980s, starting when his high school wrestling team competed on campus, and later while he played football and wrestled for OSU. Another wrestler alleges Strauss fondled him during more than 50 medical visits. Hundreds of alumni have made similar allegations. OSU apologized for not stopping Strauss. It reached nearly $47 million in settlements for 185 plaintiffs. More lawsuits are pending.

MILB – Minor League Baseball – High-A Central
Yesterday
South Bend Cubs at Lake County Captains, PPD to 7/1
Dayton Dragons 10, Lansing Lugnuts 8
Fort Wayne Tin Caps 6, Great Lakes Loons 5
West Michigan Whitecaps at Peoria Chiefs, PPD to 7/1

Tonight
South Bend Cubs at Lake County Captains, 7:05 p.m.
Dayton Dragons at Lansing Lugnuts, 7:05 p.m.
Great Lakes Loons at Fort Wayne Tin Caps, 7:05 p.m.
West Michigan Whitecaps at Peoria Chiefs, 7:35 p.m.